Here Kitty, Kitty
by PepperonyOwl
Summary: Ranma, stuck in male neko form for a week and staying with Akane 24/7. What could possibly go wrong? CHAPTER 4 UP - Akane has to bathe a naked Ranma, oh my!
1. Prologue - Ice Cream and cats

Hi everyone,

Thanks for reading the preliminary version of this and thank you everyone for pointing out the obvious plot holes… Below is the revised version of my story, without plot holes hopefully. Please do let me know what you think!

Thanks to my beta reader **pursemonger **for her invaluable help in fleshing out the plot and giving suggestions which have now borne fruit in the story below!

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"Seriously? C'mmon 'kane, why can't you talk to me as a guy?"

He could feel her eyes on him but refused to turn around and look at her.

"Please? I'll pay. Big chocolate ice cream sundae... please?"

Damn her for knowing his weaknesses and for being able to convince him so quickly. Not that he was giving in just yet. He turned around and hopped from the fence to face her – and realised his mistake almost in that very same instant.

Big, doe like chocolate coloured eyes were on looking at him pleadingly, white teeth catching her lower lip and hands folded in front of her chest. He gulped, then sighed. She had him – and she knew it.

"Alright already... just... stop looking at me like that."

Her smile turned mischievous, her tone of voice soft and innocent.

"Looking at you in what way?"

His glare was ineffective and did nothing to stop her smiling – not that he particularly wanted her to stop. Giving it up as a bad job altogether, he sighed again.

"So... where are we going?"

"The one on the other side of town?"

Ranma looked at her in surprise. The last time she'd convinced him to 'go for ice cream' had only been a little over a week ago but the only reason she ever chose the one on the other side of town was when she was either particularly vulnerable or needed to talk a lot and didn't want to be interrupted.

Their 'ice cream outings' as Akane had dubbed them were still unknown to most people as it could be mistaken as a date – with the exception that Akane always had him go as a female.

He let her choice of ice cream parlour go without comment, knowing she wouldn't want to talk about it until they were there.

"Y'know, I still don't get _how _chocolate ice cream can taste different as a girl."

Hands behind his head he walked off, knowing she was just a few feet behind him. It still irked him that Akane would only talk to him in his female form. Beyond these outings she never seemed to have a problem as always identifying him as a male – hell, often she didn't even notice when he'd changed, but... it was free ice cream. And uninterrupted time with Akane, time during which she would actually talk to him was rare and he was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth (well, not beyond a few token protests at least).

Deeming them a safe distance from the school, Ranma scooped her up in his arms and started roof hopping. This was admittedly another bonus of their joint ice cream escapades.

"I still don't get why you won't teach me roof hopping – I mean, I must be heavy and-"

Ranma smiled wryly.

"Akane, if I can't carry you then I'd be embarrassed as hell as a martial artist. I mean, even with your thick thighs and your muscles, I can easily carry you."

Holding her like this, carrying her – it was definitely a perk to the entire thing. He could feel her right hand on his chest, feel her head leaning against his arm, her hair brushing against him with the breeze. Her breasts were pressing against him as his arm went around her back to hold her waist. His other arm was touching the soft, bare skin on her legs as he held her aloft. He could feel the warmth radiating from her, could smell the scent of the orange shampoo she'd used this morning intermingled with the strawberry-vanilla smell that was purely, uniquely Akane. He knew his heart was racing and tried to calm down, knowing she could feel it.

"Ranma, you had better apologise right now or I WILL strangle you!"

Her glare was on him, but she made no effort to struggle against him. Ranma couldn't help the confident smirk on his lips as he looked at her.

"What, and ruin this handsome face?"

Akane spluttered, blushing before her hand hit his chest in admonishment. At his grin, she started giggling. Somehow, since his fight with Saffron, their insults had more affection in them than either of them meant for there to be. Since then it had been much easier to ignore the words.

Her eyes were on his, sparkling with mischief and for a moment he lost his footing, focused on her alone.

Blushing, he corrected this course and decided to watch his feet more than his fiancée– even if she was particularly cute today.

"You nearly dropped me!"

He heard the teasing in her voice, the smile in her tone of voice but couldn't help and respond seriously.

"You know I'd never drop you."

He chanced a glance at her – brown eyes were soft and warm, full of affection that made him blush and her smile was inviting as she looked up at him and admitted.

"I know. I trust you."

So many things went unspoken with those words, so many adventures (and misadventures), so many experiences, both good and bad.

"You always catch me when I fall."

Clearing his throat at the fondness mixed with exasperation in her voice, he determinedly looked at his feet.

"Can't let a tomboyish macho chick like you fall, you'd break every bone in your body!"

He grinned at her, but quickly stopped when he saw her furious expression. There was that small nerve pulsing beneath her eyes that let him know that she was beyond ticked off at him. He quickly cleared the last house with a large jump and landed in front of the fountain.

Depositing her carefully in front of him, he quickly splashed himself with the cold water, feeling the by now familiar transformation take place as he shrunk slightly, gained hips, a waist and breasts. He gave a small, apologetic smile to his fiancée, not wanting to ruin her mood.

"So... Ice cream?"

He watched as she closed her eyes and breathed out. Upon opening them again she sent him a small glare.

"You had better be a really good listener today, Baka, or we will have a fight later today."

Ranma grinned in relief, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the ice cream parlour.

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They both sat down on a bench in the nearby park, having located one that was slightly obstructed by trees and bushes, hiding them from the view of the casual passerby.

"So... what did you want to talk about?"

Curiously, Ranma looked over at Akane.

"Oh, nothing in particular... Can't we just, you know, chat?"

Ranma sighed. He'd half expected this, of course, but wondered why she wouldn't just say what was bothering her. Yet, without fail, it happened every time.

"So, err... nice weather, huh?"

Akane sent him a small smile before relaxing into the bench beside him.

"Yeah. Rather hot summer this year. Can you believe that Kuno has an actual, real life girlfriend?"

Ranma's head shot up, staring at her in astonishment.

"What? Where did you hear that? That can't be right! I mean, c'mmon, the only way a girl would date him was if she had a few screws loose herself."

Akane giggled.

"Well, Kuno is rather handsome... as long as he doesn't open his mouth."

Ranma couldn't help but stare at her, aghast. Kuno?

"Handsome? Kuno, handsome? Damn, if you wanted to date him you should've told me and I would have stopped beating him up."

With satisfaction he watched Akane's face twist into a disgusted grimace.

"Eurgh. Don't even joke about that."

Ranma chuckled, pulling his legs up beneath him, staring at the glimpses of the shimmering water of the lake beyond the trees. He could feel it, knew that she would start talking now about what was really bothering her.

"I... I am a martial artist, Ranma, and before you came to town I actually fancied myself as being rather good. When you came... and then Shampoo, Ryoga, Ukyo, Happosai and god-knows-who-else I had to realise that I wasn't excellent – I was only good.I could probably beat Ukyo in a fair fight but... I am not sure I'll ever reach the level you're at. And that's... that's kind of okay. Because I know you're on my side and you'll protect me. But when we were fighting..."

Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed her stopping, clenching her hands slightly before relaxing again, brown eyes focused on nothing in particular.

"In China. When we were in China. I wasn't even able to defend myself. I was at home – safe. And they grabbed me, kidnapped me – ME! I am not a damsel in distress, Ranma. I am not a housewife like Kasumi. I can defend myself – I am a martial artist... But I couldn't. I fought and I lost. And when I watched you – against Saffron, I realised that I was helpless. I couldn't defend myself, I couldn't help you. I was shrunk – I was a doll. And there was nothing I could do."

He heard her sigh, watched as she pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them, eyes empty and mouth pulled into bitter lines.

"I know what Shampoo said. I know what she did. And I know that she was under orders to kill you, stop us but... I could feel her hand squeezing me and I suddenly realised that there was nothing I could do to stop her. I have... sort of gotten used to you rescuing me. You're always there when I need you, always just in the nick of time you grab me, defeat the enemy and before we know it we're back at school like nothing ever happened. And... I mean, don't get me wrong. I can live knowing I might die one day protecting myself, protecting you or someone else. I am fine with that – well, sort of. I don't want to die, but if I do die, at least there should be a reason."

It was hard, wrestling down his own emotions and listening, especially on the topic of China and Saffron – it was still too recent, too fresh. He'd done it more than once though on one of their chats, so he kept quiet, watching as she sighed and gathered her own thoughts once more.

"Did you know I died twice when we were in China? The spring of the drowned Akane – or whatever it's called. I had to actually drown. They brought me back using CPR, I am still not quite sure why they went through all that effort to revive me. But... you know what my worst fear was? All this time, all this fighting... I am afraid to drown. Sometimes at night I can still feel the water crashing in over my head, the need to breathe growing stronger, my lungs feeling pained until I gasp and I can feel them filling with water. It was... painful. I struggled and I tried to swim... but, well, you can imagine how that went. I still remember how everything went dimmer, how it seemed as everything was fading away. It was frightening."

He watched her swallow, watched as she wiped at her eyes, which were shining with emotions and fear. Ranma found himself struggling to breathe, the panic inside himself rising at her description, at the realisation that he'd nearly lost her... twice. His hand sought out hers and squeezed it slightly, unsure whether he was reassuring her or himself that she was still here – beside him. Back in Nerima. Alive and well.

Against their usual unwritten – and unspoken – rules, Akane turned to face him and gave him a thankful smile, interlinking their hands, before turning back and continuing to talk.

"And once again I could not protect myself. You don't understand what it's like – I am a martial artist. I have just as much right as you do to defend myself and to defend you. I shouldn't be a mere distraction; I should be fighting at your side, fighting for myself, for you, for everything. I _am not_ a weak girl awaiting her rescuer."

Ranma smirked. He would certainly never accuse her of that, though he could see her point; more often than not, people had used – or attempted to use – her as leverage. She was a tool, not a challenge or an equal. He grimaced slightly, thinking how he'd take it if this was him. Not half as well as her probably, he admitted to himself.

When she remained quiet, introspective, Ranma decided that now was as good a time as any.

"Why martial arts?"

"Hm?"

Brown eyes focused in on him again as she turned to face him, intrigued by the curiousity in his eyes and the slight blush on his face.

"I mean, I've met a lot of girls"

Her raised eyebrow let him know that this was unlikely to be a good way to start the conversation unless he wanted a fight.

"Not what I meant. All I wanted to say is that I've seen quite a few women with skills in martial arts – Ukyo, Shampoo, hell – even Kodachi. But you're the only one I've ever seen who is..."

He bit his lip, suppressing the 'like me' he'd nearly said.

"You're the only one who loves martial arts for its own sake, not as a means to an end. You practice, you spar, you challenge and even when you lose it just inspires you to train harder, fight harder. All the others... they are good, some even better than you are but they don't have that passion, that drive. Martial Arts is something they do – with you it's who you are. Why?"

Ranma looked at his fiancée – her brown eyes were wide open and fixed on his, a blush colouring her cheeks and her lips slightly parted in surprise.

Raising an eyebrow in challenge he found her responding as he'd expected; her mouth snapped shut and she rolled her eyes at him.

"My mom was a lot like Kasumi is – a kind, gentle, loving mother and wonderful wife. But she was also a fantastic fencer and almost as bad as cooking as I am – no interruptions, Ranma! From what dad says she could beat him within seconds when it came to kendo but hand her any other weapons and you were as likely to die as she was to kill herself accidentally. Apparently only her soups and stews were edible. Anything else she simply couldn't cook. I have to admit that I only ever remember that she made fantastic chicken soup when I was sick."

Ranma looked out to the darkening sky, afraid to distract or interrupt Akane. It was incredibly rare for her to open up as much as she had. The only times she ever mentioned her mother was when it was the yearly anniversary of her death.

"Sorry. I went off on a tangent. What I meant was that it wasn't just my dad who taught students. My mom had her own students. Dad taught all of us when we were kids – Kasumi, Nabiki and me. Even before mom died Kasumi preferred to help in the household. She still does katas but they are calming exercises rather than anything she associates with violence. Nabiki – well, when mom died and dad dropped his students, we were in financial troubles for a while. I think... that stuck with Nabiki as she has always been eager to amass money and she took to budgeting and saving like a fish to water. Dad by then was training only me. When I was young I looked remarkably like mom. It was the only time I had with dad where he wasn't crying or upset. He seemed happy."

Akane shrugged self-consciously.

"At the beginning it was something to make my mom and dad proud. Then it was something, the only thing, to make my dad happy. It took me a lot longer to realise that the pleasure I got when I learned a new kata was not because of that anymore. I just... I love martial arts. It's simple for all it complications. I love learning a new kata. I love the way my body feels when I am absolutely exhausted and have pushed myself beyond what I thought was possible. I love sparring with an opponent, that rush you get. I love the way you can always learn more, always improve beyond where you thought you were at your best. I love how it's not just a match of strength and skill but also of wits. I love the way it feels after a stressful day when my body can just flow from one kata to the next. Martial arts is something I want to practice for the rest of my life, something I always want to improve. Someday I want to be able to have a match with you and at least give you a workout."

Ranma found himself staring at her, eyes wide and heart racing. She was... absolutely perfect. He could feel the fluttering in his stomach, the desperate need to taste her lips; a need he'd had for what felt like forever.

He had never thought – never even contemplated – that her talking so candidly about why she looked at martial arts the way she did would get him so aroused and at the same time so completely, utterly, head over heels in love with her; it was as though he was falling for her all over again.

"I'm sorry, that sounded weird, didn't it?"

He noticed he blush, her averted eyes but it was difficult to concentrate on anything beyond the rushing sound of his blood in his ears.

"No, never."

His voice came out in a hoarse whisper instead of his normal voice and he watched as her head turned to look at him, eyes wide and blush darkening. Her smile was gentle and soft and damn, if it didn't make his heart pick up speed yet again.

She truly was beautiful beyond belief.

And Ranma found he wanted a full smile from her – the one that spread across her face, lighting it up, causing her brown eyes to sparkle The words were out before he could even think of stopping himself.

"I'll train you."

Brown eyes widened in disbelief.

"Come again?"

He knew why she was cautious, why she had trouble believing him.

"I thought you don't hit women?"

And there it was.

"I don't, usually."

He watched as the fire behind her eyes ignited, her hands clenched and it took him a moment to see how she had misinterpreted his words this time.

"What I meant is that you are a martial artist, aren't you? That's how you want me to view you, isn't it? A martial artist above all else. And you were right; you have to be able to defend yourself. It isn't exactly fair to you to expect you to twiddle your thumbs during fights. So yes, I will train you."

There it was – the smile that lit up her face and made her eyes sparkle with joy. And for that moment in time, surrounded by green trees and light pink Sakura blossoms, sitting on a bench in a park far away from home, he couldn't imagine ever having seen someone more stunning than the young woman next of him.

His heart was beating fast, his stomach fluttering and everything in his head was screaming to kiss her... so of course his mouth opened and he said the exact opposite.

"You're such a tomboy. I mean, what sort of female likes martial arts? You should really try harder to be at least a bit sexy, otherwise you'll never manage to find a husband!"

He watched as her smile froze and wished he could take his words back. If she got even sexier, he'd have a heart attack. Should he tell her that? Probably not, he'd probably say it wrong and insult her even more.

He sighed, ducking his head and awaiting the inevitable blow to his head. When it didn't come he dared to glance up and his heart sunk at the moisture he saw gathering in her eyes, the trembling of her lips.

"Akane, I-"

Her eyes snapped back to him and the glare made him automatically step back slightly, hands up in a defensive position.

"Just take me back home, Ranma baka!"

Her voice was cold and Ranma flinched slightly as he bent down to pick her up. Boy, he'd really managed to screw this one up. It was only when he lifted her up that he realised he was still in his female form. Blinking in surprise he set her down again softly.

Akane was the only person who'd never made him feel like a freak. She was the only one who treated him exactly the same, whether he looked female or male. The only one who could actually manage to make him forget which shape he was currently in as his mind was... well, still him.

Quickly dousing himself with the warm water from the thermos Akane had brought along, he turned back into his male form, picking up Akane again with ease. She stilllooked incredibly hurt even as she had waited patiently for him.

Once he was certain she was secure he jumped up through the trees, onto a fence and onto the first roof, starting their journey back home.

"... I..." Ranma knew he needed to fix this somehow, needed her to smile again. It had always been the case from when he first met her. He would pull silly faces, throw insults or he would compliment her – anything, as long as she wasn't crying. He couldn't stand to be the one that made her cry.

"I... don't think you're unsexy, y'know."

He blushed but noticed immediately that Akane was simply angry again and still upset.

"And what is that supposed to mean, huh? No, let me guess – I am about as sexy as a ten year old boy, that's what you wanted to say, isn't it? Huh?"

Ranma choked on that image for a moment before wondering how their communications always went so wrong in such a short space of time.

"That's_ definitely_ NOT what I'm saying, 'kane."

There was so much wrong with that mental image he didn't know where to start. Knowing his foot-in-mouth disease it was better if he didn't even try.

"Oh yeah? What is it you're trying to say then?"

Now angry himself at her challenging tone, her determined expression and the way she just wouldn't relax into his arms like she normally would, he put her down on one of the roofs.

"Damnit, would you just listen for once? All I am saying is that I think you're very sexy! Now what the hell is wrong with that!"

It took a moment before Ranma registered what he'd said – and it took a fraction of a second longer before Akane's eyes widened and a blush spread across her face. Before she could duck her head quickly enough Ranma noticed the small, pleased smile on her lips and he would've rolled his eyes if he hadn't been too embarrassed.

He hadn't meant to blurt it out like that.

He watched her hands twist, the way she bit her lips as she looked back up at him. There was no mistaking the vulnerability in her chocolate coloured eyes, no mistaking the anxiousness and the desperate need for reassurance.

"Really?"

Her voice was silent, almost a whisper and he knew she worried he'd hurt her again. Sighing to himself, stomach knotted in both anxiety and nervousness he stepped closer, putting a stray strand of her behind her ears.

"Really." Her eyes were still wide, expectant and Ranma nearly gulped at the realisation of what she wanted.

His blush darkened but he met her eyes with determination. How come this was so hard to say? His words had implied it but to actually say the words seemed infinitely harder.

"I think you're very sexy, 'kane."

God, why did the earth never open up and swallow you when you wanted it to? His heart was racing, his body was feeling both hot and cold and all he wanted was to run away as far as possible and pretend this never happened.

And then he looked up at her face again and his heart stopped. Her smile was wide and brilliant as she stepped closer to him, arms going around his neck as she hugged him. It took Ranma a moment to regain enough power over his limbs to put his own arms around her, pulling her body closer to his, feeling her breasts press against him, her hips, her curves. It was a new, much more pleasant form of torture than he'd ever experienced before.

Before he knew it his arms tightened around her waist and his face was buried in her hair. And all he could think about was how he wanted this moment to last for the rest of his life. She seemed so small in his arms, so ... incredibly feminine and needing his protection. Oh, he knew better than to say that to her – he'd get hit into next week.

As if sensing his thoughts, Akane stepped back slightly, blush still pronounced in her face but her eyes were sparkling with happiness. There was a moment were both paused, her hand on his chest, their face separated only by a few millimetres. Another breath, another moment and they stepped apart entirely.

"I, ah... Let's go home, Ranma."

Ranma found himself nodding before he'd even thought about it and was sweeping her off her feet the next moment to hold her securely in his arms.

"Y'know, it's a minor miracle that we haven't been interrupted yet."

Akaned nodded, her head brushing against his chest slightly in her movement and he nearly lost his footing – again. He really hoped she didn't catch on any time soon to how distracting her every move was for him. It was bad enough that she knew by now that smiling at him in a certain way would almost certainly make him cave and turn into a girl – a girl! – for his fiancée.

"'Kane... Why can't you talk to me as a guy? Y'know it's still my mind inside a girl's body."

The blue haired girl was looking at him as if he'd lost his marbles.

"Of course I know that. What else would you be? No, the reason I ask for you to turn female... is..."

Akane sighed. She'd expected this question sooner, really, but it didn't make the confession any easier. Worrying her bottom lip, she gave in. Ranma had been honest with her – and she knew it was hard for him to say anything like that – her heart still rushed when she remembered him saying she was sexy – She! Akane, the 'unsexy tomboy'... She smiled to herself. It was nice to know her fiancé didn't mean all the things he said. There'd been indications, of course, but it was always nice to hear the words.

"When we first met, the boys were attacking me. Kuno was attacking me. They somehow thought that hitting me and defeating me was the way to win my affections; I still wonder sometimes about the lack of intelligence. But the point is that even now, after all that we've been through... I trust you, but it's hard to not assume the worst when you are male. I know girls, I know women. Guys always just seemed after one thing – and I'll admit you have always been a gentleman because you have certainly had plenty of occasions you could have easily abused. But you didn't. You never did."

Ranma felt her cuddle closer into him, watched as brown eyes looked up at him through long, dark eyelashes.

"I know that honour goes above all else for you, Ranma. And I do trust you. But... it's hard to confess feelings and thoughts to you, as a guy."

He squeezed her gently, letting her know he understood.

"It wasn't just empty words I said back at Jusenkyo, y'know. I kinda understand now that it wasn't a curse to begin with. I mean, of course I'd still like to be a guy full time, but all I'm saying is I don't... y'know, mind being a girl when we go out together."

Again, her brilliant smile lit up her face and Ranma inwardly congratulated himself for making her smile like that at him – and him alone – so often today.

Before he knew it they were close enough that Ranma jumped back down onto the street and set Akane down on her own two feet. It wouldn't do for anyone to see him carrying her, so it had become the norm for them to separate as they got closer – and to start a fight, just in case anyone thought they'd been out together. Ranma had made it a condition when he'd first agreed to go out, so that he didn't have to worry about any attacks from Shampoo or Ukyo the moment he left Akane undefended.

"Pervert!"

"Tomboy!"

"Jerk!"

"Crazy, violent chick!"

Ranma and Akane glanced at each other, almost smiling at exchanging their typical insults in such a meaningless fashion.

"Idiot!"

"Unsexy!"

To his surprise , Ranma watched as Akane blushed at his comment instead of being insulted – or laughing - at the fake insult.

They both paused momentarily, unsure whether to carry on with their previous commentary or start a more honest discussion, but both then decided to simply continue on their way home in silence, glancing at one another at irregular intervals.

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"So, Ranma, have you ended your other engagements yet? When can we finally hold the wedding between you and my little girl?"

Soun sniffed and ignored the scathing look his youngest daughter sent him with the ease of practice.

Ranma simply sighed, knowing this was an almost weekly ritual.

"No. Never."

"Yeah daddy, you know we never agreed to be engaged!"

Ranma looked up in curiousity – Akane barely ever interfered now when her dad asked him. He watched as she blushed at her father's next word, mortified.

"But you yourself _agreed _to the wedding!"

Feeling chivalrous – not at all related to the intimate moments they'd shared today – Ranma couldn't stop himself from interjecting.

"'kane was only agreeing to get me the Nanniichuan water, right Akane?"

Aforementioned girl looked at him, hesitant at first but must have noticed his expression. He knew there were a lot of other reasons, a lot of things neither of them dared to talk about yet.

"R-Right. I mean, daddy, you were blackmailing me!"

Ranma watched her father squirm and mutter something before hiding behind his newspaper. Akane, on the other hand, simply sighed in despair at her father's frequent plots regarding their engagement before sending Ranma a look to convey her quiet gratitude – he sent her a superior smirk that both acknowledged it as well as rattled her, causing her to send him a small glare.

"Though it has certainly been rather quiet lately. Even Shampoo hasn't been by to visit lately."

Kasumi smiled at everyone, eating her food, trying to remember the last time they'd seen the Amazon.

"Pah, good thing too. We're still paying for the repairs from the wedding." Nabiki sent a small glare at her older sister.

Sighing, Ranma stood up.

"I'll go have a bath now."

He'd noticed – of course, he had. How couldn't he have? What the others didn't know was that he had met Shampoo only a few days after the wedding. He'd still been furious with her for attacking him and Akane, ruining the wedding and for threatening to kill Akane in China when she'd been helpless. It was even worse now, after today's discussion with Akane.

But he'd made it clear to her that if he saw her near either him or Akane over the next few days he'd not be responsible for his actions.

Ah well – a hot bath would relax him and give him time to think about how to train Akane. He still wasn't sure he could bring himself to actually hurt her – which, kind of, defeated the point. As soon as he entered the bath room he wondered if maybe Kasumi had cursed him with her announcement at dinner.

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"YEOWCH!"

"AAAH!"

"NOOO!"

The Tendo household barely paused in the middle of their dinner.

"Akane, would you please go and look what's wrong with Ranma?"

Akane sighed. She knew already that somehow she'd be roped into it anyway, but couldn't help and at least try to have someone else do it at least whilst Ranma was potentially naked in the bath... though maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Quickly shutting down that embarrassing thought, she ducked her head long enough for the blush to disappear.

"He's in the bath, wouldn't it be proper for daddy or Genma to check on him – you know, a _male_?"

Good, at least her tone had been biting and sarcastic rather than sounding too eager.

"Oh it's fine. You're nearly married already."

Sending a cold glare at her father, she put her bowl of rice down with force – making the table groan beneath her – before standing up again.

By the time she arrived by the bathroom door it had gone eerily quiet – concerned despite herself she knocked quickly before entering.

On the floor, at her feet was Shampoo – in cat shape. Her arms and legs were bleeding with cuts and Akane couldn't hold in her gasp at the sight. Looking up she noticed an agitated – naked – Ranma on the other side, hissing and obviously under the control of Cat Fist.

"Shampoo, can you walk?"

The cat sent her a small glare but gave a slight nod and Akane realised she was playing dead – only Ranma was aware that she wasn't.

"Right, I'll calm him down and you leave. My family is downstairs, they'll help get you patched up."

The cat sent her a measured glance as if judging if she could calm down Ranma the way he was now. Akane ignored her, stepping past her and into view of him – within seconds he was in the air and she found herself sitting on the floor a moment later, with a purring Ranma in her lap.

He only gave a small warning noise as Shampoo left them.

"Shh... Hey... it's all okay now... see – only you and me. Nothing to be angry about... It's all okay."

Muttering meaningless platitudes, Akane couldn't help but remember the way Shampoo had looked – how she'd been bleeding from what looked like cat claws. It was still intriguing that Ranma sought out only her and no one else in cat form.

"Now... let me just grab that Yutaka over there, okay?"

Surprisingly, Ranma was easily dislodged from her lap, happy to follow her on her heels, purring, rubbing against her legs.

Akane blushed. He was really quite cute like this – much more open with his affection.

Wrapping the Yutaka around Ranma took a bit more effort, though luckily he seemed happy enough to be manipulated by her, as long as she kept up a constant stream of chatter.

Akane paused – she'd been about to walk downstairs with Ranma, which was odd in itself. Shaking her head at her own obliviousness, she took some of the cold water and sprayed Ranma with it – he shifted to his female form but only gave her an annoyed hiss in return.

Flabbergasted, Akane watched as Ranma went over to the warm water and dunked his head,turning back into a boy, before shaking his entire body as if he was shaking out the wet from his non-existent fur. Even when he returned to her side, butting his head against her hand she was unable to regain complete focus.

Ranma not only didn't return to his right mindset, but he also turned himself back into a boy... What the hell...?

Did that mean – Oh god, would he remain like this forever? Thinking he was a cat?

Within seconds Akane was out of the bathroom and running downstairs.

"DADDY! KASUMI! COME QUICKLY!"

Her family was gathered at the bottom of the stairs by the time she reached them – a bandaged Shampoo in their midst.

"I... Ranma, he's not turning back. I- I splashed him with cold water but he still thinks he's a cat."

In that very moment Ranma pushed her behind him and prowled – honest to god prowled – up and down in front of her, agitated, staring at her family, who quickly took a few steps back.

"Akane, take him up to your room. We'll call Dr. Tofu over."

It wasn't hard to agree, seeing how even Shampoo was flinching back from Ranma as he was in full protective mode in front of her.

"Come here, kitty, kitty."

With a satisfied purr, Ranma leapt after her and followed her into her room.

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"Now what?"

What do you do with an eighteen year old male in your bedroom – well, an eighteen year old male who thought he was a cat.

Giggling, Akane lowered herself to the floor, hands almost automatically caressing his head.

"You make a pretty cute kitty!"

She laughed as he simply continued purring, obviously not understanding her words.

"Our life is never going to be boring, is it?"

Akane paused mid-stroke. But surely, like all the other times there would be a cure for this, right? He wouldn't be stuck forever now with only catlike intelligence, no human recognition.

She stared at Ranma, who lifted his head to look at her – there was no acknowledgement of all the emotions and thoughts usually reflected in his eyes, no blushing at their closeness, no understanding. Ranma in neko ken was cute and it was nice that finally he was showing his affection openly but... she kind of found herself missing the man behind the exterior, the one who had an amazing talent to say all the wrong things at the wrong time.

"Ranma…"

Hugging her fiancé close to her, she was surprised when his only reaction was to purr and rub his head against her. She wiped at her eyes and sternly reminded herself that nothing had happened yet; she was bawling for no reason.

Sighing, she continued her ministrations on Ranma, watching as he purred in contentment, a small smile on her lips at his obvious satisfaction with the treatment.

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"So, Dr. Tofu, what's wrong with him?"

The examination had been hell, Akane reflected. She really did feel for Dr. Tofu and all the awkward situations he found themselves in with her and Ranma. The only way Neko Ranma had allowed Dr. Tofu near him was after he placed himself between Dr. Tofu and Akane – by the same token, she was not allowed to leave the room or he would throw a hissy fit. It had been... rather difficult for both her and the poor doctor.

"His neko state has overwhelmed his human mind. Usually, when he turns into a cat it's only when he is confronted with his fear – cats. In this case, it's somewhat more complicated. He turned into a cat due to his fears and normally the cold water and his body changing would give him enough of a shock to snap him out of it and thus allowing his human mind to take over again. It's rare enough as it is, that people develop a second personality to deal with their greatest fears, but to have it be a cat."

Dr. Tofu shook his head in wonder – he cursed Genma for what he'd done to his only child and at the same time he was amazed by the sheer resilience of the boy to actually bounce back from this sort of maltreatment.

"Now, however, it's not fear that holds Ranma's cat personality over his human mind. Akane, I believe you've told me he has on a few occasions invoked this frame of mind voluntarily to defeat someone in a fight?"

At her confident nod, Tofu continued.

"In doing so, Ranma has confirmed to himself that he is stronger in neko ken than he is as a human. At the moment he is feeling a... particularly strong desire to protect you, Akane. His cat state will remain whilst he believes her to be at risk, so that she can have the optimum protection. Bear in mind, that this is not a conscious decision on his part, rather his subconscious mind has decided this for him the moment his cat mind took over this evening."

"Oh my."

Dr. Tofu pretended he hadn't heard Kasumi's soft voice, well aware of how important this was and how hard pressed he'd be to talk in complete sentences once he was aware of her presence.

"How long will this last for?"

Akane flushed and ducked her head, hoping to escape scrutiny. The doctor had told her in private that he suspected the reason Ranma's desire for her protection was so strong because he could smell – smell! – that she was ovulating and, seeing her as his mate, wanted to stop any other males from being near her.

"About a week, give or take a few days."

Technically, it would only be three days, but Ranma was obviously this way despite it not having started yet so they added a few days on either end to be safe.

"Is there anything we need to know?"

Dr. Tofu sighed.

"Akane is the only one that can calm him down, so until he returns to... himself, they will both be unable to attend school. Moreover, I would suggest that no one come close to either of them and that any challengers, fiancées or people who might otherwise interfere are kept far away from Ranma. I shouldn't have to say this, but Ranma is a cat. His human mind believes in honour, not hitting girls and not killing – his cat mind is bound by none of these restrictions. If anyone comes near Akane that he believes to be a threat, he will do his utmost to incapacitate them, potentially permanently."

The rest of her family gulped, staring at Ranma who was currently lying in her lap, purring, but with his eyes open, watching every move from them intently.

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Akane sighed and tried to put a pillow over her head. Ranma was outside her door, meowing pitifully. He'd not stopped since she'd gone to bed – that was over an hour ago.

"GOD! Akane, do something about that noise!"

Rolling her eyes at Nabiki, Akane yelled back.

"What do you want me to do? He's not staying in _my_ bedroom!"

"Akane!"

Rubbing her eyes tiredly, Akane opened the door to look at her assembled family – aside from Nabiki.

"What is it, daddy?"

"I give you permission to take Ranma into your room."

Akane snorted slightly at the suggestion that she'd been holding out because she was waiting for her fathers approval.

"Daddy, if it had been your permission we'd been waiting on, he would have been sleeping in my bed before the first week of our engagement was over."

"Now, Akane – Ranma is a cat, for all intents and purposes. He won't touch you inappropriately. I think it would only proper if you helped him since he is so intent on protecting you."

Kasumi looked at her, obviously believing in her reasoning. Akane was just glad she didn't know about WHY exactly Ranma was so intent on protecting her.

"Even you, Onee-chan?"

Kasumi gave her the look – the one that said you are being incredibly childish, unfair and that she should really start being reasonable. Akane found herself looking at the floor at the unspoken chastisement.

"Now, Akane, I know you never really accepted the engagement, but after all that Ranma has done for you – even now he is stuck in neko ken only because he is protecting you- surely you can set that aside for now and let him sleep in your room? Please, Akane."

Sighing, Akane opened her door wider and Ranma happily bound his way inside, rubbing against the back of her legs, purring, trying to convey his happiness.

"Now, please leave us all alone."

Her family disappeared quickly and she turned to Ranma sitting patiently on the bed, staring at her.

"Nah-uh, no way."

She crawled under her covers and found herself sending Ranma off the covers more than once.

Half an hour later, he was still trying to jump on the bed and, tired and exhausted, Akane fell asleep before she could convince her arm to move enough to send the boy off the bed again, her last thoughts going to what an interesting week she was bound to have with her fiancé in permanent neko ken.

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Righto – what do you guys think?


	2. Day One - Lack of privacy

Hi guys! Hope you enjoy the next chapter – the affectionate ways of the cat have been researched from several websites. Also, the terms that Neko-Ranma uses to describe his rivals/fiancees are explained at the very bottom of the chapter if you're uncertain who they're referring to.

_**WARNING! If you didn't notice – the first chapter has been completely revised. Please read it again otherwise this one won't make much (if any) sense!**_

Sorry for the long wait – I struggled for a bit with this chapter but now it's finally done; all thanks to my beta reader for her hard work on this! Thanks to **pursemonger** for all your helpful tips and corrections! Thanks to you this chapter is much improved – and much more pleasurable to read (and longer – still don't know how that happened...). Anyway, this chapter is for you!

And of course thanks to all my reviewers:

**giby-chan: **Thank you for your review. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Here is the next chapter. I'm currently working on the next one already. Please review!

**Compucles: **Thank you for your review. I'm glad you prefer the revision – so do I! About the fencing/kendo – yes, absolutely. Makes much more sense, I didn't think it through :( I'll go back and change it! Thanks for pointing that out. I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter. Please let me know what you think (or if you can spot anything else that's not quite right). Cheers!

**Linkgold64: **Yay, thank you for your review and the compliment. I'm glad you prefer the revised chapter as well. Hope this new one will live up to your expectations – please review!

**CityOnTheMoon: **Thank you for your review! I'll leave that training trip open for the moment as I'm not quite sure myself yet. I'm glad you're enjoying the re-write. Hopefully you'll like the next chapter as well. Please review again!

**BobV: **Thank you for your review. I'm glad you like the rewrite – I personally far prefer it. Below is the next chapter, please tell me what you think!

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Yawning, Akane stretched but it took a moment longer than that to wonder why she'd felt safe and protected for the first time in her bedroom since China. Suddenly remembering the previous evening's events her eyes snapped open to look at a happily sleeping Ranma.

He was curled up into a ball at her side, facing her. Unfortunately, the purring noises he made and the movements that seemed to mimic paws moving made it very clear he was not thinking as a human yet.

A part of her had hoped… she shook the thought off, looking at her fiancé instead. He seemed happy – chasing something? There was a small grin on his lips and kept making noises as he was moving. It was, all in all, rather cute, though she definitely preferred having her Ranma back sooner rather than later. A part of her started wondering what the Human-Ranma slept like.

Poking his cheek softly she watched as Ranma slowly blinked at her. He gradually fully awakened and butted his head against her, looking for affection.

"Good morning Ranma. Yes, you are a very cute kitty… Now, I need you to go outside so I can get dressed."

Standing up, Akane motioned for Ranma to do the same and watched as he stretched before jumping down to be just behind her. She opened the door and gestured for him to go out. To her astonishment Ranma simply sat down at her feet, licking his hands to clean himself, entirely disinterested in leaving her alone.

Dr. Tofu had warned her that exactly this might happen – well, sort of. He'd told her she'd be unable to go to school because Ranma wouldn't leave her alone, but this…?

Firmly – though staying quiet so as to not wake up the rest of her family – she pointed to the door again, hoping that maybe she'd not been clear enough.

"Ranma, out."

The aforementioned boy simply blinked at her before continuing his 'washing' unhindered. Akane watched in disbelief for a moment as Ranma ignored her entirely. Frustrated, she tried to push him out but Ranma – much like when he was in his human mind – easily resisted, giving her a bored look in return for her efforts.

Biting her lip, Akane tried the next tactic; she stepped outside and watched as Ranma happily bound behind her – the moment he was away from the door she slipped in and slammed it shut – only to hear Ranma start scratching at the door while meowing pitifully and,most of all, loudly. He'd been barely outside for a second before Nabiki's shout echoed throughout the house.

"AKANE! Do something about your fiancé – RIGHT NOW! Some people still want to sleep!"

Sighing, Akane opened the door again feeling defeated as Ranma mewed happily, rubbing up against her.

So here she was – in her own home, her own bedroom and unable to undress because Ranma was looking at her. Intellectually she knew he wouldn't remember it, knew that he was a cat and couldn't care one iota what a naked human female looked like… but he was still Ranma and it was hard to separate the two.

"You're not really, Ranma, are you? I mean… you're not just pretending or something for laughs, right?"

She stared at the boy, wondering whether she was actually expecting an answer or not. Ranma just continued to ignore her as he washed himself – which, while maybe cute on a real cat, looked really odd on a human male.

Shaking off her thoughts, Akane firmly picked out her clothes and closed the curtains. Biting her lips, she decided the room was dark enough so she quickly undressed and put on a nice skirt and top for the day, blushing furiously. Ranma, the man who had told her only yesterday that she was sexy, was watching her undress.

When she opened the curtains again and turned back, Akane almost recoiled in shock. Ranma had stopped licking and was paying attention to her – and only her. She flushed, gaping at her fiancé. Surely… not…?

Swallowing slightly past the lump in her throat, she patted the bed beside her and watched as Ranma jumped up in one smooth movement, rubbing his head against her and purring. Right… a cat… It was just coincidence, Akane told herself. Just a coincidence. No need to be embarrassed. … Right?

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"Akane, what are your plans for the day?"

"Well… I was intending to stay at home, stay at home some more and then, oh, yes, stay at home. Seriously, we've barely been back at school. It's not fair, Onee-chan."

Kasumi smiled at her sister, sitting at the other end of the living room with Ranma. The boy was still sending them cautious glances in between eating his breakfast.

"No Akane, what's not fair is your poor fiancé, trapped within his own mind for a week."

Akane's glare was icy as her eyes sought out Genma's, Ranma's father.

"Yes, and whose fault exactly is that?"

Even Kasumi barely had time to blink before a panda suddenly replaced the balding man, holding up a sign that said 'I'm just an innocent little panda'. Akane was brought back to reality by Ranma's feral growl – he was staring intently at his own father across the room and she knew that if they weren't careful, Ranma would attack him as he had attacked Shampoo.

The Amazon had returned to the café before Dr. Tofu turned up, but her lower left arm and her left leg were in bandages. Akane couldn't help but feel sympathy for her – and though she hated what the old man had done to his own son, she'd rather not have Ranma attack his own father.

"Hey, Ranma, come to me… here…"

It was like flicking a switch – Ranma happily bounced over to her and was in her lap, purring contentedly as if he'd never been hissing at his father. She couldn't suppress a smile as her heart started beating fast. Ranma was so different – for once, she was more important than anyone or anything else. It was… flattering.

"Ranma and I will be in the dojo, Onee-chan."

Her older sister only nodded in acknowledgement when Akane made her way over to the dojo. Training would make her feel better – it always did.

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Breathing in slowly, Akane started moving slowly through the beginner's kata of the Tendo style that her dad had taught her when she was younger. Hands turning, legs rising and torso twisting, she slowly moved through the kata, allowing the anger she still had at Ranma's father and the entire situation to slowly dissipate as her love for martial arts took over.

Slowly she sped up and moved to the more advanced katas, feeling her body flow through the familiar forms, smile on her lips as her heart beat in synch with her movements. Martial arts always had a way of cheering her up.

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Neko-Ranma sneezed slightly, eyes still intent on the form of his mate as she moved in the weird forms that humans practice. He didn't understand why they don't just use their claws, but that was just the reason why cats were so much more intelligent than humans.

Though his mate was as close to perfection, and therefore to being a cat, that a human could be. For the first time that morning he could smell her happiness – she had been angry this morning at the human that had sired him. His mate had stripped out of her sleeping fur and put on different fur but had seemed embarrassed by the action. Humans always seemed to be embarrassed about the oddest things. Why would anyone worry about their outer fur?

His mate was angry very often and when his own, very limited, human mind took over, Human-Ranma didn't listen to Neko-Ranma or his own nose anymore. And then Human-Ranma would only make their mate angrier by saying stupid things in that nonsensical human language and by not showing his mate that he had chosen her long ago. It still made no sense to Neko-Ranma why humans couldn't just adopt the clearer and far superior cat language thenthere would benone of that misinterpretation that made their mate angry with them.

And Human-Ranma wouldn't tell the other females that he had already chosen his mate. That's why he always made sure to spread his scent over her when Neko-Ranma finally had control back. But it never seemed to make a difference; it looked like humans didn't know how to use their noses. Cats were just superior by far – not knowing how to use your nose wouldn't happen to a cat.

So whenever Human-Ranma couldn't interfere, he took the time to show their mate their affection. Otherwise she might allow other male humans to steal her away such as pig-boy, crazy-boy or forgetful-boy.

Neko-Ranma knew very well that he had chosen the best,strongest, fiercest and prettiest mate out there. Many had fought for her but he had won. Now, if only his mate would understand that and if only his human half would tell her; instead Human-Ranma kept quiet. Neko-Ranma really didn't understand why Human-Ranma was scared of their mate not responding in kind. It was easy to smell her love and tenderness, her arousal as well as her hurt after another one of their fights.

Human-Ranma seemed to not know though and no matter how loud Neko-Ranma meowed, he remained unheard until fear overwhelmed his human half. So Neko-Ranma made sure that Akane knew he loved his mate even if his human half wasn't saying or showing it. He just wished he could understand human language sometimes when his mate said something.

Staring, Neko-Ranma stopped his cleaning to watch his mate practice her fighting. Human-Ranma and Neko-Ranma loved fighting – it was fun! And of course he was the best fighter there 'd beaten pig-boy, snake-with-lots-of-heads, crazy-boy and bird-boy. No one could win against him.

And if someone came after their mate, then they wouldn't live to regret it. She was his mate and his to protect. He loved his mate – she was a fierce warrior and not like the other alley cats that offered themselves to him. Of course he was a magnificent tom cat and it made sense why so many were after him, but both Ranmas knew who the best among them was. Not the boy-friend and not cat-girl smelly-flower – they were interesting, but not a challenge. His mate was a challenge. His mate was definitely much better than the others.

Blue eyes remained focused on their mate as her entire body twisted, power gathering for a kick before lowering again, movements quick and decisive. She was sweating and she was excited. Neko-Ranma grinned. His mate would be in a good mood and that always made for a fun day.

Maybe he should go out and bring her something to show his love? Hesitating for a moment, Neko-Ranma decided to stay and watch his mate in case cat-girl decided to reappear despite her defeat yesterday. She was certainly a persistent and annoying kitty. His mate was much more interesting. Even Neko-Ranma couldn't predict her reactions.

His mate was definitely much, much better than the other humans.

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Hours passed before Akane collapsed in a pleased heap of exhaustion. Breathing hard, sweat pouring down her brow, she stared up at the ceiling, smile on her lips. She loved martial arts and for the first time in a long time she'd been allowed to train uninterrupted. No crazed fiancées, no one seeking revenge, dates, kidnappings or engagements. Closing her eyes, she relaxed for a moment, relishing in the momentary peace and quiet permeating the Tendo house as it only had on rare occasions over the last two years.

Before she could react, Ranma was at her side, purring and his tongue licking over the side of her neck. Her body was moving before she could fully comprehend what had happened, jumping up and putting some distance between her and Cat-Ranma.

"EWWW! Ranma, what was that! YUCK!"

Scrubbing her neck, Akane tried desperately to get rid of the feeling of his tongue on her skin.

"Right, that's it! You were kinda cute as a cat but this is just too much!", jumping over Ranma, she made for the door and ran in direction of the kitchen, yelling for her sister. Ranma was hot on her heels as he obviously thought this was a great chasing game.

"KASUMI!"

Skidding, she came to a stop in front of her older sister, hand still protectively covering her neck.

"Kasumi, Ranma's crossed the line! I can't spend a week like this with him. There must be something else we can do!"

Her older sister merely blinked at her before putting down the dishtowel in her hands, as always the very epitome of serenity; though admittedly, in their household she had probably seen the oddest and weirdest scenarios so that at this stage barely anything could faze her.

"Oh my. What happened?"

"He… he…" Flushing a bright red, Akane leant over to whisper in her sister's ear. "He licked me."

At her sister's own blush, Akane elaborated – not wanting to know exactly where her sister thought he'd licked her.

"On my neck!"

To her surprise she watched Kasumi merely giggle slightly.

"Oh, that's okay then. You had me worried for a moment there.", shaking her head gently, she admonished her sister. "He's your fiancé, Akane – he's allowed to demonstrate his affection for you – and at the moment this is the only way he knows how to."

"Affection?", astonished Akane stared at her older sister. Licking her was affection? She grimaced.

"Oh, Akane, I know we never had a pet but surely you know that much."

Shaking her head, Kasumi slowly took off her apron and hung it up in the corner of the kitchen. Ranma was at Akane's side, looking up at his fiancée as if wary of upsetting her. Taking the lack of hissing or threatening noises in her directions as a good sign, Kasumi put her hand on Akane's back as she led her out of the kitchen.

"As you may know different animals all show their love in different ways. There are some easily recognizable ones for cats though that you'll find listed in books – bear in mind that every cat is different."

Walking up the stairs to her room, Kasumi quickly checked her bookcase for a book she'd received over six years ago.

"Remember how I used to watch our neighbour's cat when we were younger, before Ranma came over?" At Akane's nod, she continued. "At one point they were going to be away for more than a few days and since none of us really knew how to care for a cat beyond the basics, they gave us a book. Now since Ranma is still physically human you won't need the information about nutrition but what should be relevant to you is the behavior."

Handing her stunned sister the book, Kasumi hummed slightly as she left her room and headed for the kitchen. With a gentle smile she set to preparing lunch. Hopefully her youngest sister would discover some of the feelings the boy had for her instead of going by his words all the time. Actions really were the most telling – just like with Dr. Tofu. Everyone always presumed Kasumi was oblivious – but of course she wasn't.

Maybe this would finally allow her youngest sister to be happy with her fiancé and bring some much needed peace and quiet into the household.

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Lying on her stomach on top of her bed, Akane was browsing through the book, feeling inexplicably anxious about turning to the page she should be looking at. Her lower legs were in the air crossed over one another and Ranma had draped himself over her thighs and curled around her, purring happily even in his sleep.

She'd snorted and given up trying to twist in impossible ways to get him off and instead focused on what she came up here for. Reading the book about cats and affection;not that it had anything to do with her and Ranma.

Sending another look at her fiancé over her shoulder, Akane bit her lip softly before pulling the book closer and opening it to the right page with a deep breath. Within minutes she was absorbed as she read the text.

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Blushing, Akane re-read the book for the third time. This couldn't be right… according to this, Ranma had already demonstrated his love for her every time he was in neko ken. There had never been anyone else – he'd only ever come to her, seeking her out when he was in his mind a cat.

Cats love with purrs. Even now, curled up and asleep, Ranma was still purring when he rubbed against her in his sleep.

Cats love with rolling.On more than one occasion Ranma had presented his belly to her. According to the book it put them in such a vulnerable position, cats only did this with the person they truly love and trust.

Cats love with rubbing. Apparently rubbing against her was another sign of love because if he had been a real cat it would've left his scent all over her thus effectively marking her as his to all other males and females. He was declaring her to the entire world as his mate and Akane couldn't even bring herself to get indignant over it, instead her heart started beating faster. Wasn't that sort of like a wedding ring? Showing off to the world you were his just as he was yours?

Cats love with sleeping.Due to their vulnerability during sleep it was yet another demonstration of their love and trust if they slept near you. Since she'd seen him in neko ken the first time he didn't have a problem sleeping in her lap.

Cats love with "cat kisses". Apparently a slow blink at her from across the room was considered a "cat kiss".

Cats love with grooming. Cats lick someone to spread their own scent over them as well as to groom one another – just like he had done in the dojo. Yet another way of him telling the world that she was his.

Akane blushed, remembering the many occasions where Ranma had said loudly that she was HIS fiancée and no one else was allowed to either touch, kiss or date her – not that the both of them ever did any of that either, though.

There were a couple of things Ranma hadn't done – such as presenting her with dead things, though she was kind of glad for that. She wasn't sure she would've reacted well to him bringing her a dead bird.

Now that left one obvious question – did Ranma love her? Love her the way she was sure she'd heard him declare in China, love her the way she loved him…? His cat mind seemed to have definitely chosen her, but what about the human mind?

"Hey, Ranma…"

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Neko-Ranma blinked awake and stretched. His mate had called him. Purring, he walked up to her, nudging her hand even as his torso rubbed against her.

"Do you love me?"

Sniffing slightly he could easily tell that she was excited about something – not arousal, but happy. Strange human language – cats communicated so much easier. He didn't know what his mate was saying.

Meowing plaintively, he rubbed his head against her stomach to show her his love. Maybe he could make her even happier – when his mate was happy he could feel that rush inside him, especially when she smiled - Definitely the prettiest mate.

Blinking at her slowly, Neko-Ranma was surprised when his mate's face became red. Maybe it was a sign that she liked cat kisses?

Giving her another "cat kiss", he watched as his mate started stroking his head. His mate liked cat kisses. Hmm… he wondered what his mate thought of human kisses. Human kisses were complicated just like their language. Unlike cats there always seemed to be a strange ritual attached to it.

His mate definitely smelled happier now – giving him one of her wide smiles that Neko-Ranma knew showed their joy for humans. Pleased that he'd caused his mate to be so cheerful, he rubbed himself against her strongly, purring loudly.

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Akane smiled softly. It was going to be a boring couple of days but she kind of enjoyed the amount of attention and love her fiancé was giving her as a cat.

"You are very cute as a cat, Ranma. Even if you can't talk… you know, I kind of miss you. It's silly, you're here, but… you're also not. It's only been a day but since China you've always been looking in on me and talked to me at least once a day. I kind of miss that. And I miss being able to just chat with you, though admittedly, you're a brilliant listener as a cat."

She gave Neko-Ranma a smirk, half expecting an outraged reply which of course never came. Smirk fading, she frowned slightly.

"As bad as it sounds, I kind of even miss our arguments. When it didn't get out of hand, I enjoyed the bantering. Oh Ranma… I miss _you_."

Sadly she watched as Neko-Ranma, sensitive to her mood swings, tried to cheer her up.

"Akane."

Hastily wiping at her still dry eyes, Akane stood up and opened the door.

"Nabiki?"

"Kasumi asked me to let you know the bath's ready."

With a wave of her hand the middle sister disappeared back into her room, leaving Akane alone with Ranma. Swallowing past the lump still in her throat she shook her head to dispel the lingering sadness.

Though that left her with the next dilemma – Ranma seemed intent on following her everywhere and after all that exercise she definitely needed a bath.

"Argh, now what are we going to do?"

Akane glared at her hapless fiancé who was happily sitting by her side, rubbing his head against her comfortingly. Against her own will, she found herself smiling and shaking her head softly. Neko-Ranma was impossible to hold a grudge against.

Walking downstairs she easily found Kasumi by the dining room table, cleaning up.

"Onee-chan, could you watch Ranma? I want to take a bath and he keeps following me everywhere."

Unfortunately, as she was bending down slightly to talk to her sister she missed Soun and Genma's heads shoot up from their game, identical diabolical smirks on their faces.

"Of course. Do you think he'll stay here?"

Biting her lip, Akane shrugged slightly.

"I hope so. I don't know any more about his behaviour than you do, sis."

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"Ranma, will you stay here? Akane needs to be alone for a while."

Tilting his head sideways, Ranma slowly edged forwards to the oldest sister. Maybe she was offering food? He was very hungry… his head whipped back around as he noticed his mate moving away to the stairs. With two quick jumps he was back at his mate's side. Hunger could wait – he would protect his mate. Purring he rubbed against her legs but to his confusion his mate gave an exasperated sigh.

"Right, I'll look you inside my room. Sorry about this, Onee-chan. Put your headphones on, I'll try to rush my bath."

Kasumi gave her sister a soft smile as she returned to the kitchen. Maybe they would be much closer by the end of the week.

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Neko-Ranma yowled pitifully. His mate had left him behind.

At first he'd thought his mate was maybe going to the learning place and trying to leave him behind – if so he would have jumped out through the clear thing that allowed him to see the garden. He'd watched the house entrance and she hadn't left and yet she'd locked him away like a dog.

Hissing and growling, he prowled through her room, angry. His mate was unprotected. What if another male found her while he was in this room? Staring at the door his mate had used to close the room, Neko Ranma debated using his claws to shred the obstacle just as it slowly gapped open.

Hissing, he backed up. That was not his mate's doing – this was their sires. He could smell them and their sires always made his mate angry with him. Pausing, Neko Ranma waited for them to show themselves so he could deal with them and move towards his mate. When nothing happened, he cautiously edged closer before jumping through the gap in one quick move and running towards where he could smell his mate, forgetting all about their sires. His mate was more important and she needed protection as the other males always ignored his warnings and the fact that his mate was covered in his scent and therefore, clearly, his.

Ah, the washing place.

To his surprise that door was open just slightly as well; enough for his paws to widen the gap for his body to squeeze through. Cautiously he moved forward. His mate would not leave that door open. Lowering himself to the floor he robbed his way over to the last door separating him from his mate. Protecting his mate was all that mattered. His mate wasn't ready yet but he was the only one she would have a litter with. Not any of the other tom cats that kept encroaching on his mate.

Entering it silently, Ranma cautiously scanned the area. No one was there. His mate's furless back was turned to him and she'd not noticed his entrance. But Neko-Ranma was certain she would be happy to see him – he'd protected her again and his mate was always joyous when he'd done so. Happy, he jumped over to his surprised mate and licked across her furless leg to aid her in her grooming.

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"EEEK!"

Akane jumped up in fright when Ranma suddenly appeared at her side and licked her leg. It only took a moment for reality to reassert itself and she quickly grabbed the towel to cover herself.

"RANMA! YOU PERVERT!"

Tightening her towel she reached for the nearest object - which turned out to be the washing bucket - intent on sending Ranma to cat-heaven. That thought paused her – Ranma was still in cat fist. She couldn't imagine the real Ranma would ever lick her soap-covered leg.

Anger slowly disappearing she looked at her fiancé – he was currently coughing and hacking, trying to get rid of the soap he'd licked from her legs. Against her will, Akane sniggered, slowly placing the washing bucket back down.

"That's what you get for running in here, Ranma. Now sweetie, Akane wants to have her bath to herself. Could you wait out there?"

Oh god, what was she doing? Talking to Ranma as if he was an actual cat!She rolled her eyes at her own behavior before laughing again. Ranma was just lucky that she didn't hit poor, defenseless kittens even if they did look like humans - otherwise they'd now have another hole in the ceiling.

"Ranma, baths are a no-no. You have to stay out here."

She tried to guide her fiancé to the outer laundry area, but Ranma stubbornly remained at her side, refusing to fall for the same trick again.

With a sigh, Akane glanced around the room. Now what? Knock Ranma unconscious? Nah, she couldn't do that to him when he was not in his right mind and didn't understand why she was upset with him. Closing the outer door, her eyes landed on a small towel – could she…?

Smiling she grabbed it. This would solve all of her problems – well, hopefully at least.

"Ranma, come here. Here, kitty…"

Her fiancé easily came over, still snorting his displeasure over the soap every now and then. In one quick move she'd fastened the towel over his eyes and looked at her fiancé. Satisfied that he really was now blind, she kneeled down in front of him.

"There, now you can stay here."

Almost automatically her hands found the spot on his neck that always made him purr and she watched as Ranma collapsed at her feet, baring his belly to her in hope of a good scratch. Rolling her eyes, she rubbed him for a few moments before moving away.

Loosening the towel she'd wrapped around herself to protect her modesty and she sat back down on the stool. After finally washing off the soap, Akane made her way into the warm bath, sighing with relief as the heat surrounded her. Half drowsy in pleasure as her muscles finally relaxed from the strenuous exercise she turned around to look at Ranma only to find herself face to face with wide blue eyes.

Gasping, Akane recoiled, her voice refusing to come out in the shock of finding Ranma so close to her and, more importantly, without the towel over his eyes.

Leaning sideways she could easily see the shredded cloth on the floor behind him. How- When…? Had he been watching her the entire time?

Blushing Akane lowered herself deeper into the water. Even in his cat mind he was a pervert.

"Ranma!"

God, she was so glad her fiancé wasn't aware of all this and wouldn't remember any of it in a week's time. She'd be forced to kill him otherwise. Really – first telling her that he thought she was sexy and then turning up when she was naked in bath. She had half a mind to accuse him of being in his right mind and a pervert but Dr. Tofu had patiently explained that Ranma was merely here due to his innate instinct to protect her. Besides, he'd be blushing just as badly as she was if that were the case.

"Akane, dinner's ready."

Helplessly, Akane looked from the door down to her happily purring fiancé who blinking slowly at her from his position on top of the stool just beside the bath. The fact that she was getting cat kisses from her fiancé while naked in a bath did not escape her attention and she gritted her teeth. Her currently very much male fiancé who refused to let her out of his eyesight.

Reaching for the towel she stood up quickly and wrapped it around her, hoping Ranma hadn't seen anything despite the fact that he was a cat.

"I'll be right down, Kasumi."

Turning to the cat she pointed her finger at him.

"And you have been a naughty boy. You'd better learn to behave better, Ranma."

Akane snorted at her own words, shaking her head slightly. She'd lost it. He wouldn't understand a word she was saying and here she was trying to reprimand him for protecting her as far as he was concerned.

It looked as though her modesty was about to take a severe beating over the next week. Quickly closing the door between her and Ranma she dressed quickly, ignoring his yowling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mrs. Saotome, how are the repairs on the house moving along?"

"Very well, thank you, Kasumi dear. They have told me they should be finished the day after tomorrow. Then my husband and I can move out of the house and get to know one another again." A cold smile in the direction of her husband had him wincing before she turned back to the eldest Tendo sister.

"And thank you again for allowing Ranma to stay with you until he regains his senses."

Nodoka smiled genially at the other girl who answered with her own smile and a soft glance in direction of the two youngest occupants.

"Ranma is practically part of the family since he's engaged to Akane – he will always have a place in our house. And we would be happy to welcome you back whenever you want to."

"Thank you."

"Now, Nodoka dear, are we not moving a bit too fast? The boy is stuck in cat fist and this would be the ideal time to get them closer together, maybe even-"

Chopsticks snapped loudly and Akane stared at him, anger pouring off her in waves, eyes narrowed at the man who was responsible for the entire situation. First Genma had forced his ten year old son through unspeakable horrors that meant he lost his mind every time his fear of cats overwhelmed him and now he'd basically declared he was going to abuse their already precariously vulnerable situation even further.

"Are you telling me, Mr. Saotome, that you are responsible for letting Ranma into the furoba while I was in the middle of enjoying my bath?"

Eyes wide, Genma waved his hands.

"No-no, I had nothing to do with that… See, it was all Soun's idea!"

With a pat on his friend's shoulders he pushed the head of the Tendo family towards his youngest daughter who was glaring at him.

"So, Daddy, why did you let Ranma out of my room and into the bathroom?"

Her voice was glacial and she ignored Nodoka's gasp as well as her sisters.

Unfortunately, none of them had taken Neko-Ranma into account. Noticing his mate's agitation turning into anger he jumped in front of her unsure of what was going on. It wasn't difficult to find out who was threatening his mate though and with a quick swipe of his ki claws there were deep furrows in the floor and between both fathers. The clothes on the side to the furrow were shredded and a small trail of blood became visible.

Eyes narrowed, hackles raised and back arched Ranma stood in front of his fiancée glaring at his their sires. It was a warning only as his mate would not be pleased if he hurt them seriously. His mate had been happy before and now they had made his mate angry and hurt.

Laughing nervously, both men recoiled quickly and left the room as Akane tried to ignore the anger and the need to have her dad explain his reasoning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Still angry Akane stood up and abandoned her dinner.

"Ranma, let's go to bed. Thank you, Onee-chan. It was delicious as always. And sorry for the mess."

Sending a faint smile at her sister, Akane went up to her room, unable to let go of the aggravation she felt towards their fathers. She should've expected it – both always seemed to take any opportunity they could find to push them closer together but it galled her more than she wanted to admit. And yet she felt disheartened - after the disastrous wedding she'd thought they'd all lay off the topic for a while. It just wasn't right.

It took more restraint than it should have to not slam her door. Scowling, she grabbed her dumbbells in the hope that some exercise would go towards cooling her anger somewhat. So caught up in her anger it took her several repetitions of her exercises before she finally noticed Ranma at her feet, purring and repeatedly butting his head against her. Akane smiled faintly – either he was trying to cheer her up or he was looking for affection.

Shaking her head slightly she deposited her dumbbells on her desk and crouched down to the floor beside Ranma.

"Hey there. Sorry for ignoring you."

It was odd, stroking Ranma. She could feel his male and most importantly human body under her hands, could feel his muscles rippling with each move and she was tempted to blush. But the loud purring noise he kept making were working to relax her, clearly showing that even if his body was human, his mind was not. There was nothing remotely sexual about it – it was a simple touch and the only way she could show the current Ranma her affection. Leaning back against her bed she watched as Ranma gave her what could only be seen as an impish grin before turning onto his back, asking for a tummy rub.

Laughing, Akane felt the last tension leave her body as she allowed her hands to tickle over Ranma's lean stomach muscles.

"You're a very spoilt kitty, Ranma."

It was only a moment before another thought occurred to Akane. With a wicked grin she pulled out the ball of yarn from under her bed – left over from her previous attempts at knitting.

Rolling it out in front of her she was amused to see Ranma fall into a hunting position – his head lowered to the ground and his back raised in the air – as he watched the yarn move across the floor with a fascinated stare.

Giggling to herself, Akane picked it up, throwing the ball up in the air and watched as her fiancé's head shot up in time with the yarn, following its descent avidly. Blue eyes followed her every movement as she threw the ball from one hand into the other.

Finally he made his first move – though notably without claws. His hand flashed out while the yarn was in midair and tapped it. It plummeted downwards before rolling over the floor – with a quick jump Ranma was on top of it, prodding it carefully and sniffing.

Sniggering, Akane used her camera to take a picture of Neko-Ranma – something to tease her fiancé with later when he was back in his right mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neko-Ranma looked up at his mate. He had enjoyed playtime with his mate – she had some very fascinating toys. At least he thought it was a toy – sending another glance at the wriggling ball he sneezed. Maybe it was another male encroaching on his territory? Or maybe it was edible – if so, his mate would like it if he offered it to her.

Satisfied with his conclusion, Ranma carefully took the ... _thing_ ... in his mouth and pranced over to his mate, head held aloft in pride at having defeated the thing for his mate. That would definitely tell her that he was the strongest tom cat out there.

Dropping the ball in her lap he looked up at his mate. She was giving him the brilliant smile again that meant for humans that they were happy. And finally his mate was smelling of fun, happiness and mischief again – like a young kitten who had explored beyond the boundaries of its nest.

Purring, he rubbed against his mate. He had made her happy again – she'd been upset but he had made her happy.

With a nimble jump he was on their sleeping place and his mate joined him, making another happy sound. To show her his happiness he purred loudly and rubbed against her before falling asleep under his mate's magic paws.

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Hi! Let me know what you thought of this chapter! Below is a summary of the terms Ranma uses to describe his rivals/fiancées.

Please review!

_Legend:_

_boy-friend = Ukyo_

_cat-girl = Shampoo_

_smelly-flower = Kodachi_

_pig-boy = Ryoga_

_snake-with-lots-of-heads = the Orochi_

_crazy-boy = Kuno_

_bird-boy = Saffron_


	3. Day Two - Contest for Ranma's affection

Hey guys, this time it's a quick update as I've had some inspiration (and lots of help from my beta reader).

**WARNING: **Mentions of masturbation and vibrators. Oh, and this chapter has Kodachi, Shampoo AND Ukyo in it! Hope you'll enjoy it. *evil laugh* Don't read if you're uncomfortable with any (or all) of these topics (though it's still very tame, don't worry)!

Thanks to **pursemonger**, my brilliant beta reader who has saved this story from being a complete and utter disaster!

Dedicated to my ever faithful reviewers:

**Lady Ski: **Thank you for your review – I'm glad you enjoy this fanfic. With any luck you'll enjoy the next chapter as well. Let me know what you think!

**The Keeper of Worlds: **Yay, I'm glad it's fun. Thanks for reviewing again and every time – it's very encouraging. Let me know what you think of this latest chapter too, please!

**Flameraven1:** Thank you for your review. *evil laugh* your answer to some of your questions is in the next chapter. And I fully agree with your assessment of Soun – he'd really freak out, I think, if Ranma actually ever did take him up on all (or any) of those things.

**Linkgold64: **Thank you for your 'll be glad to know this is another long chapter, as requested (8+k). And you will be seeing some of what you wanted to see – the Nerima Wrecking Crew will make its first longer appearance in this chapter!

**Compucles: **Thank you again for your reviews – they are always a pleasure to read. And you are quite right, I did actually think for some reason the bathroom was on the second floor. My beta reader has since sent me a website with a sketch of the Tendo house (who knew that things like that were out there?) – so big thank you as you've cleared up quite a few of my misconceptions actually.

You're right, bird-boy in retrospect is rather misleading. I didn't think of that at the time. I was thinking of Mousse being blind-boy though. And yeah, boy-friend does give a sort of wrong idea, but then I wanted the cat to think of Ukyo as both male and a friend. Despite the change in gender I think Ranma still often treats her like one of the guys. I'm not sure Konatsu will really make an appearance in Neko-Ranma since Akane's pretty restricted in her movements and he'd have no reason to visit him – so, to be honest, I hadn't given it any thought but it probably wouldn't be Ninja-girl. The cat would have no concept of Ninja's, so … dunno!

I do portray Ranma with his huge ego – it'll make another short appearance in this chapter as well! Anyway, hope you'll enjoy it – let me know what you think again please.

**caia-chan: **Thank you for your review – I do believe most of the points you've brought up will appear in this chapter though I can at least say up front that no one will die. Anyway, enjoy! Please give me another review to let me know what you think of this!

**Guest: **Thank you for your review! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter just as much!

**Guest: **Thank you for your review. *lol* yes, we do but it'll still be another 6-odd days before Human Ranma reappears, unfortunately. I intend to have a lot of fun with both characters anyway in the mean time!

**Guest: **Thank you for your review! I'm glad you think it's got lots of potential, though your comment was notably on Chapter one – did Chapter two fail to fully realise the potential you were expecting? I hope not! Anyway, please let me know what you think of the latest chapter – if you're still reading, that is.

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Akane woke up with a scowl the next morning. Having fallen asleep before she'd had a chance to change her clothes meant that her bra had twisted into a terribly uncomfortable position overnight. Stretching her back she grimaced as she heard everything pop back into place before she unhooked her bra without taking her shirt off.

Relieved, she relaxed back into her bed, amused by the purr Ranma gave as he curled back up against her. He really could probably do nothing but sleep and eat in Neko Ken.

Stroking him slightly, Akane felt tranquil for the first time in a long time. There was for once nothing she could do – nothing she was obligated to do. It was just her and Ranma and no need to run to school, fight someone, get kidnapped, challenge engagements or whatever else usually happened in their crazy lives.

"This is actually kind of nice."

She rubbed Ranma's belly that he was presenting her. For once it wasn't hard to enjoy being around her far more affectionate fiancé. He only had eyes for her and according to Kasumi's book was clearly and repeatedly demonstrating his love for her.

"Do you ever think of us – as a, you know, us? I'm not phrasing this well…"

Stroking Ranma's head she watched as he lazily looked up at her, purring in pleasure.

"I just wonder if you've ever thought of us as a couple."

Putting a hand under her head she studied her fiancé. Still no reaction beyond his cat like behaviour.

"I have. I've wondered ever since we first met. And when we go out for ice cream… do you know the other reason why I have you as a girl? Because otherwise it would seem too much like a date. When you and I go for our first real date I want you to ask me and I want you to be male."

After searching and failing to see anything beyond the catlike intelligence behind his blue eyes, Akane flopped back onto her back.

"I don't mean it – when I've said I don't want to be engaged to you. I do. I just… I don't want it to be forced, something you are obligated to do. I want you to choose me, of your own free will – and as a human, not just as a cat. It's silly, I know. Ukyo's a much better cook than I am. She's known you since you were small children – how am I supposed to compete with that? And Shampoo – well, she's gorgeous and basically throws her naked body at you any chance she gets. Honestly,, I'm jealous – she looks so good and yet you've rejected her. What chance do I have? They are both fantastic cooks, much as I hate to admit it and Shampoo's a brilliant martial artist – even better than me. I guess… I just can't see why you'd choose me."

Sighing, she glanced at Ranma, her hands still massaging the back of his neck even as he kept his eyes fixed on her.

"You've made it clear that your own figure is much better than mine – slimmer, more toned and bigger breasts. Same with Shampoo. Ukyo is your cute fiancée. What am I to you?"

Akane smiled slightly.

"Though two days ago you told me that I was sexy – _me_. Not Ukyo, Shampoo or Kodachi. Me. What does that mean, Ranma? Are you interested or are you not? I was willing to go through with the wedding but you refused. I mean, I can sort of understand why. I wanted our wedding planned by us, I wanted us both willing and eager and… Well, I guess, I wanted you to ask me. I've still got this romantic idea in my head of you down on one knee asking for my hand. I know it's silly and stupid, but… I kind of long for that."

Grumbling slightly she looked at her fiancé.

"Why can't you ever be clear? Dr. Tofu says you see me as your mate… what does that mean? Do you… want me?"

She blushed darkly, looking at Ranma's continuously happy expression who oblivious to the meaning of her words.

"Or do you see me as something like your… your wife? According to the others you had me – well, Kima looking like me, naked in the bath with you in China. What happened? I've not had the courage to ask you, to tell you that I know… but what happened? Did you react the same as with all the other girls? Or am I different or just one of your fiancées? Would you go as far for them as you did for me? Did you realize it wasn't me? Where you interested…?"

Shaking her head at herself, Akane kissed Ranma's forehead and sat upright.

Time to face the day. Ranma in Neko Ken wouldn't be able to give her any answers – though she wouldn't ever dare ask him all or indeed any of these questions when he was fully aware. It was too embarrassing – bared too much of her feelings and her own intentions towards him.

"Let's get ready, Ranma."

Swinging herself out of bed, she wasn't surprised to find Ranma only seconds behind her, looking up at her with affection clearly showing in his blue eyes. Grabbing her clothes for the day she glanced over at Ranma who was expectantly looking at her.

Akane snorted.

"Pervert."

With a quick maneuver she'd pulled the duvet from the bed and buried Ranma beneath it. Hands moving quickly, Akane undressed and put her new clothes on, determinedly not looking in her fiancé's direction, well aware that he'd probably gotten rid of the duvet half way through the process. But at least if she didn't look she could pretend that he hadn't and that he wasn't watching her.

Turning around she met two intense blue eyes focused on her. Blushing, she walked past him, grabbing her duvet from the floor and making her bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Tendo family was enjoying their breakfast together – meals were really one of the few occasions where the entire family was united and usually relatively peaceful times of day. Except for this time. Suddenly, in the middle of breakfast the doorbell rang.

A nervous undercurrent ran through the entire assembled Saotome and Tendo families – was this another crazy long lost rival or fiancée? As one all eyes landed on the happily purring Ranma, unsure if he'd be up to facing anyone in his current state without seriously endangering their health. Everyone paused for a moment, trying to judge what the best option was from here on in when a smiling Kasumi smoothly stood up.

"I will see who that is."

After only a brief moment of hesitation, everyone else just nodded and went back to their food – after all it might just be a delivery. Soun and Genma were notably absent from the table but at the other side of the room due to Ranma's continued hissed threats in their direction.

"Oh my!"

Raising an eyebrow, Akane looked at Nabiki who looked just as confused. As everyone exchanged nervous glances and were about to get up to find out what was going on, they heard the unexpected sound of rapid footsteps.

All of a sudden a hurricane of black pedals flew through the family room, shortly followed by Kodachi. Moments later Shampoo and Ukyo burst into the room as well, though everyone was for once using the door to Akane's surprise.

There was a pause as the three fiancées – well, two fiancées and one wannabe-fiancée – stared at Ranma – he was obviously not himself standing on all fours in an aggressive stance and yowling at them.

"I didn't want to believe it… Neko Ken. And he can't wake up?" Ukyo looked baffled and took a step closer to look at her fiancé.

Unfortunately, he took that as a threat and standing protectively in front of Akane, eyes narrowed and hand held aloft in warning, he hissed at them again.

Kodachi let out another one of her reverberating, insane laughs. Her ribbon appeared out of nowhere, trying to capture Ranma.

"Ha, this is our chance, my beloved! We'll elope; no one can stop us now!"

Instead of the usual anger, Akane found herself amused at their antics. For now at least she had nothing to fear – Neko-Ranma only ever came to her.

"What? Afraid he wouldn't choose you if he was in his right mind?" Akane said dryly, smirking slightly at the other girls.

Ranma was still in a defensive position in front of her and had long since shredded Kodachi's ribbon with his ki-claws. Kodachi Kuno seemed momentarily baffled by the apparent lack of claws and Shampoo narrowed her eyes as she hesitantly took a step forward, eyes clearly fixed on Ranma's hands in fear.

"Ranma choose Shampoo, of course. Shampoo too, too much better fiancée to Airen," despite her brave words, her voice shook faintly and her clear protection of her left side confirmed her apparent fear of Neko-Ranma.

Akane's lips twisted into a grimace. Shampoo had never hidden that she was offering her body freely to him – to be honest, she still wasn't sure why exactly Ranma hadn't taken her up on it. The only reason she could think of was that the Amazon would probably have something guaranteed to get her pregnant which would then in turn force Ranma's decision based on his honour. There was no doubt what he'd choose should he get one of them pregnant.

"Fine! We'll have a contest!"

Akane snorted at Ukyo's words and shook her head slightly. Another one? Was there anything they hadn't tried yet to compete in? Noodle contests, melon contests, honestly, what was next? Dancing naked under the full moon?

Her lips quirked into a smile at that image in spite of herself before shaking her head at the apparent obliviousness of the other girls. Ranma would stay with her every step of the way. She'd been unable to bathe alone – it was unlikely he'd let her run away with her rivals somewhere.

"Oh and how do you picture this? In case you haven't noticed, Ranma's not leaving my side."

The other girls glared at her before Kodachi laughed again. Akane and Ranma both cringed at the high pitched sounds the insane gymnast was managing to produce, Ranma yowling in pain at the loud noise.

"But that's just it!" Ukyo exclaimed, sounding as though she had managed to come up with a brilliant plan. "We can't fight, right? But this time it's different – he's a cat. He's intuitive and led by his emotions, so I say we let Ranma choose! We will be by today after school and whichever girl he chooses, wins – the others will accept defeat."

There was a momentary pause as everyone hesitated. Akane looked at Ranma who glanced back at his mate, before she nodded firmly. She watched Shampoo square her jaw to let go of her fear of Neko-Ranma before nodding assertively, followed by Kodachi.

"Okay. But he will choose and all of us promise to give up should he choose one of the others. He'll be in the middle and whichever girl he sits in the lap of is the winner."

It was hard to miss the glint in the other girls' eyes or the smirks, yet Akane leaned over to shake their hands, hers softly on top of Ranma's head to restrain him. She couldn't lose this one, after all. Ranma in Neko Ken always came to her, and only her.

… Right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The other fiancées left quickly after the agreement was made – and for once without the usual fanfare or rose hurricanes - though, the first one had still left its sign all over the family room. Kasumi had simply sighed resignedly at the mess they had once again left behind.

Ignoring her family, Akane frowned to herself and quickly became lost in thought. She always just assumed Ranma would choose her because so far he always had but what about that old lady he'd first gone to when he was ten years old? Why had he chosen her? Was it simply based on trust?

But did he really only trust her? What about Ukyo? She was his friend, surely he trusted his Ucchan at least just as much as he trusted her… Oh god.

Appetite gone, Akane returned to her room with Ranma following closely behind. Closing the door behind them, she allowed herself to sink to the floor.

What if she lost him this afternoon? He'd protect her, of that much she was certain, even against any and all of the other girls but he probably wouldn't think anything of sitting in their laps and accepting some affection. As a cat Ranma seemed to crave as much attention and stroking as he could get and from anyone – well anyone that wasn't male.

With a sigh she looked over to her fiancé. Meowing quietly, Ranma butted his head against her before slowly rubbing against her to soothe her. He could easily smell her anxiety.

Akane embraced her fiancé, needing the reassurance that she got from feeling his strength – sometimes it almost felt like transference.

"Don't worry, Ranma. I won't lose you. Not now, not ever. Not after everything we've been through to get this far."

With a firm nod, Akane stood up. It was time to use some battle tactics and some training – there was no way she was losing Ranma in this stupid contest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Kasumi, Daddy, I'll need your help preparing for this afternoon's contest."

Kasumi merely blinked before drying her hands and walking over to her sister, looking in surprise at the items in her hand.

"What are you planning, sis?"

Akane simply smirked before looking at her father expectantly. He nodded calmly, lowering his newspaper before suddenly bursting into tears.

"My little girl is fighting for her fiancé! The schools will be united soon!"

With a groan and an eye roll, Akane gestured for both of them to precede her to the dojo.

"Just shut up, Daddy."

"WAAAH! My little girl hates me!"

The blue-haired girl barely noticed that her hands had automatically sought out Ranma at her side to both calm her and sooth her anger with her dad. Kasumi was busily calming down their father as all three sat down in the dojo.

"Right, the contest is this afternoon. Now, we all know that none of them fight fairly so I thought for once we'd prepare in advance."

With an almost gleeful smile, Akane showed her family the items she'd held in the bag in her hands.

"We've got a yarn ball, cat nip and some tuna. Now, the plan is that Ranma will be in the middle and you'll try to call him over to you for play time or food and I'll try to convince him to come to me instead."

"Oh dear, do you think that will work?"

"This is a good plan, daughter, perfectly in line with the Anything Goes principle."

Suppressing what she really wanted to tell her father, Akane stood up and handed them the toys before walking into what she deemed the middle between the three of them.

"Hey, Ranma."

Stroking behind his ears had Neko-Ranma purring immediately, eyes half closed in pleasure.

"I need you to stay here until I give you the signal, okay?"

Akane slowly straightened up before taking a single step backwards – and her fiancé was already getting up himself, intent on following her.

"No, stop."

Hand held up in the air in the universal stop position, Akane was beyond startled to see Neko-Ranma actually obey and stay. Huh, well how about that.

Licking her lips, Akane carefully smiled at Ranma.

"That's a good boy, now stay... stay right there…"

The youngest Tendo carefully sat down and watched as her fiancé relaxed - he had obviously expected her to try and leave the dojo entirely or to disappear from his vision. Neko-Ranma was definitely quite cute in his affection for her.

"Kasumi, Daddy, let's try this."

And so the morning slowly passed and Neko-Ranma thought he was finally getting the hang of this game that his mate was playing with him.

Females, both humans and cats, were always so complicated. Why could they never just SAY what they wanted instead of leaving poor tom cats such as himself to try and figure out their thoughts on their own. But his mate was not obliging – she didn't use either the weird sounds humans made or the much clearer communication methods of cats. Neko-Ranma tilted his head slightly as he studied his mate – would she be impressed if he understood the game without her telling him the rules? Maybe she'd even give him extra tummy rubs if he did what his mate wanted. Licking his lips, Neko-Ranma concentrated on his mate and ignored the other distracting scents and shouts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four women nodded at each other calmly. The Tendos were spread around them to watch the proceedings – Ranma had a leash around his neck to everyone's slight amusement and only Akane's continuously calm voice had stopped him from shredding it so far.

"Is everyone ready?"

Nods all around.

"The rules are clear. Ranma has to be the one to choose – you can entice him, talk to him, beg him but you cannot force him. The one he chooses is the one in whose lap he sits. Anyone not chosen will resign their claim on Ranma and not start any new claims in the future. Are we all agreed?"

The girls eyed each other before all nodding again.

"Okay, start now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akane stopped talking and Ranma looked over, curiously. His mate was petting the ground beside her. He didn't know why the silly humans had wanted him with this tight thing around his neck but he was just happy he could shred it now.

Neko-Ranma knew exactly how to use his claws and how much damage to inflict – the collar fell of his neck without even the faintest mark on him. Cautious, he looked around him.

There was his mate – just beside her was the boy-friend and to mate's other side was smelly-flower one. That left cat-girl opposite his mate. He wondered what was going on. Was this a game? Maybe a different version of what they had played earlier?

He wasn't sure what this was about and his mate had been upset with him in the earlier games before he'd figured out what his mate wanted him to do. But what did she want of him now? Testing the rules of this new game, he warily moved closer to boy-friend and watched as everyone started shouting his name and trying to grab his attention. Curious, he looked up.

Smelly-flower was using cat food with … he wasn't sure what was mixed in. But he definitely didn't want to try it. Sniffing derisively in her direction, he looked towards cat-girl. Intrigued, he stepped closer. Her entire dress smelled of catnip. Licking his lips he stepped closer again, now barely a foot from cat-girl but then something in the air caught his eyes.

Leaping backwards, Ranma crouched down, eyes intent on the thing in the air… It was moving, fast, wriggling. Excited he leapt up – a game. Chase – at least this wasn't complicated. This was FUN! Yowling in pleasure, Ranma followed the thing and saw it land in boy-friends lap. He very nearly jumped over to her, intent on ripping the toy from her when he heard his mate cry his name for the first time since the name began.

Stopping dead, he looked over to his mate. Sniffing cautiously, he stepped closer to her and away from boy-friend. His mate was upset… maybe she was upset because he was playing with other females? Purring, to reassure her of his continued affection, Neko-Ranma was puzzled when his mate looked down at the floor.

Licking his lips he deliberately turned his back to cat-girl, ignoring the most tempting thing out there for him: cat nip. His mate needed protection and his mate was sad. He had to fix this. She was his and he had to show her that. The other females didn't interest him.

Stepping gracefully over the toy zooming in between his feet, his blue eyes never left his mate. His mate needed to know that he would always choose her. The others never mattered – only his mate. If Human-Ranma couldn't do this than at least Neko-Ranma would prove himself cleverer. Nudging her knee to spread his scent over her, he ignored the others calling for him and only concentrated on his mate sighing his name, relief and happiness mixing into her scent. Slowly, deliberately, he climbed onto his mate's lap, kneading her thigh slightly before stepping closer and nuzzling his nose against her own. His mate's breath was on his face as she said something and his name. He nudged his mate's nose again slightly with his own before curling up in her lap, purring contentedly, one eye lazily fixed on the other girls – his mate's enemies.

And therefore his enemies.

Smelly-flower made a step towards them and Ranma could smell the aggression on her. His ki claws easily swiped in front of her, clearly marking deep groves on the floor, daring her to step closer.

Still remaining in his comfortable position – a clear sign not only of whom he'd chosen as mate but also that he didn't regard them as a threat, he only hissed a warning, eyes flicking from one girl to the next. He would protect his mate.

He had chosen – maybe now they'd finally understand even if Human-Ranma never said the words. Silly humans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ranma has chosen. As agreed, you will all have to-", Soun was interrupted by Ukyo's outraged shout.

"SHE CHEATED!"

Akane blinked.

"Excuse me,_ I_ cheated? ME? What about Shampoo's catnip? Kodachi's probably poisoned food? Or your toy? Huh? All I did was sit here and talk to him and you dare to accuse ME of cheating? You've got guts."

Ukyo's eyes narrowed.

"I don't know how you did it, but you did something. He would never have chosen you otherwise. He said so himself, I am the cute fiancée!"

"No – Ranma choose Shampoo. Shampoo pretty and sexy. Akane not sexy and no can cook. Ranma never choose her."

"Pah, Ranma needs a real woman, such as myself! You little girls just can't hope to compare."

Kodachi was glaring at the other contestants before fluttering her eyelashes at Neko-Ranma – who, in cat mode, had no idea what the weird woman was up to.

Akane waited, watching as the girls all glared at each other.

"In the end it doesn't matter what any if you think. Ranma _did _choose and he chose _me_. No tricks. It doesn't matter if you think you're a better cook" she nodded to Shampoo "or are cuter" she looked at Ukyo before turning to Kodachi "or if you think you're the only real woman. _Ranma chose me_. End of story."

Despite her words, Akane knew the other girls wouldn't give up. They'd insist that she'd cheated somehow. True to her thoughts Shampoo walked towards her though she made sure to stay out of Ranma's reach still.

"Pervert girl put something on dress to get Ranma, yes?"

Akane snorted in spite of herself.

"That's rich coming from you – I know Ranma's reaction to cat nip and you definitely have some on or under your dress somewhere. And just for the record, no – there's nothing on my dress to lure Ranma towards me."

Ukyo glared at Shampoo.

"You cheated! Cat nip on your dress! I mean, who does that?"

"Now why didn't I think of that?"

Almost involuntarily Akane stared at Kodachi, surprised in spite of herself at the gymnast's response, before Shampoo regained her attention.

"Pah, Spatula girl no better is! What with toy?"

"At least_ I_ didn't try to hide what I was doing!" Ukyo spat back.

"Still no get Ranma! Violent girl train Ranma! That's why he no come to Shampoo!"

As on all three eyes landed back on the blue haired fiancée.

"Hey now! I didn't do anything and I certainly didn't … _train_ Ranma."

Akane blushed at the words – somehow they seemed to imply quite a different kind of training.

"Then why did he come to you and not us?" Kodachi's eyes were narrowed as she studied the other girls form – looking for any hidden objects which might reveal why her darling had gone to the unlikeliest candidate among them.

Sighing slightly, the youngest Tendo rubbed her forehead in exasperation.

"How much do you know about Neko Ken?"

As one the other girls looked at each other, before Ukyo answered with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"He thinks he's a cat."

Blinking, Akane stared at all three of them.

"Seriously? That's it? Shampoo – you don't know anything more? I thought with Cologne, that you'd at least have more information than that?"

The Amazon looked at her surprised.

"Airen scared cats – make him go cat," she finally added unhelpfully. The youngest Tendo snorted.

"Right."

To be honest, she was taken aback. Akane had always assumed that when Ranma visited Ukyo they at least they chatted – he always claimed that she was his friend. Neko Ken was one of the most obvious things to talk about – at least in her point of view. Sending another speculative glance at her fiancé, she started stroking the back of his neck, watching in satisfaction as he stretched and spread himself back across her lap, purring in pleasure.

"Well, just in case you weren't aware – the training was done when he was a small child. His father never read the next page of the book which clearly stated only an idiot would try to learn or teach the technique. Anyway – basically it involved starving cats in a pit for a few days before wrapping a ten-year-old Ranma in fish sausages and throwing him into the pit. When he didn't learn it then, he threw him in again the next day with different food – and the day after that. Until his fear so overwhelmed him that he developed a cat personality as protection of sorts. His ki is what he uses as claws."

She watched the flabbergasted and enraged expressions of the other girls – good, at least they were somewhat sympathetic and understood some of the horrors Ranma had endured. She wouldn't divulge what he had told her in confidence about his feelings and how he had screamed and begged for his father. How he only called his father 'pop' since then. How he didn't trust the old man anymore since that training.

Her hands soothingly caressed Ranma's neck and hair, knowing that while he didn't understand her words he could smell her emotions. Biting her lip she suppressed her immediate response of hugging Ranma and suffusing him with as much affection and love as she could – she couldn't imagine growing up without Kasumi's gentle, almost motherly attention, her dad's hugs and crying declarations of love for his daughters or Nabiki's occasional bouts of sisterly affection and teasing. To be so deprived of love – she shuddered involuntarily and forced her thoughts back onto the other fiancées, trying to make them understand.

"Ranma doesn't understand human language in this form – he is, for all intents and purposes a cat. He smells emotions, goes on instinct and he doesn't have the normal inhibitions or complicated thought processes he'd have as a human. He doesn't care if he kills someone or hurts someone – but he will, once he's back to being himself. And he never remembers anything from when he's stuck in Neko Ken."

"So what does that mean – why does he come to you, Akane?" Ukyo asked harshly, upset by seeing her fiancé purring in another girl's lap.

"Well, it's rather simple. He only goes to people he trusts in Neko Ken. At the moment I believe that's only Kasumi and me."

Shampoo frowned.

"Airen trust Shampoo, too!"

Akane shook her head gently.

"No, Shampoo, he doesn't. And just for the record, I thought before this that he might trust you, Ukyo, but obviously that's not the case either."

Breathing in deeply she watched as they started shouting again, looking down at her fiancé in her lap.

"Silly girls, eh?" Akane whispered quietly to her fiancé.

Ranma butted against her gently, blue eyes intent on hers and Akane shook her head after a moment, knowing she'd have to explain further. Maybe it would help Ranma in the future if they finally realised the damage they were inflicting on him.

"Pervert girl – what you mean? Airen trust Shampoo! She too, too nice to him. Violent girl always hit him."

Ukyo and Kodachi nodded their consent at Shampoo's assessment. They all knew if it wasn't for Neko-Ranma this would've probably long ago escalated into a martial arts fight rather than the comparatively calm and civilized discussion they were having instead..

"Can't you figure it out?" Akane's brown eyes softened as they looked up at the other girls, her hand still on her fiancé – to calm both her and him in equal measure.

"Shampoo, how often have you tricked him? How often have you given him Ramen with something else mixed in? How often have you tried to lie to him, mislead him, manipulated him? How often have you snuck up on him naked or into his bed, trying to force him to – well, we can all guess what you wanted him to do. And Kodachi – you try to paralyze Ranma in order to kiss him, you use drugs and tricks trying to have your way with him. You've blackmailed him, manipulated him, lied to him and others all to advance your own goals."

Akane sighed before turning to the okonomiyaki chef – if she was forced to choose, then Ukyo was definitely her favourite of the three girls, though she would never go so far as to call her a friend. But despite that, she knew that Ukyo really wouldn't want to hear what she had to say.

"And I know you think you're not like that, Ukyo, but you are. When you first saw him you forced him to fight you, saying you wanted to kill him. Then you do a sudden 180 and say you're engaged to him. You manipulate, pressure and bribe him – you lie to him and expect him to do more than he's comfortable with all the while citing his honor is at stake and his dad's promise. You are no better than the others; you try to force him into situations where he has to choose and try to manipulate him to do as you want him to." Akane let out the breath she'd been holding, looking at all the girls.

"There is no trust – everything you have done so far is to work hard towards him not trusting you at all. You've given him every reason to mistrust everything you do and say – that's why he doesn't come to you in Neko Ken."

Kodachi regained her composure first.

"You are making no sense, Akane Tendo. If that were the case then why should he trust you? You beat him up at every occasion!"

Akane snorted when both Shampoo and Ukyo nodded in support. She'd known they wouldn't like to hear this but it was still oddly amusing to see all three girls bond over something like this. Ranma had explained it once to her, blushing badly until his face matched his hair in his cursed form – they had been in one of the ice cream parlors and she'd been unable to suppress her curiousity.

Smiling warmly at the memory, she looked back up at her rivals.

"Because, despite everything, I've always given him a choice, I've always told him the truth. Because we fight – we honest to god fight; I don't let him get away with anything I think is wrong and he'll know I don't like it. And yes, Shampoo, sometimes that involves more violence than it maybe should. He will do the same to me though – minus the violence. He insults me, I insult him, we scream and shout at one another but in the end we don't lie or hide and misdirect. We're different people and we often don't have the same opinion but it would never occur to me to try and manipulate him to think as I do. Nor would I ever try to use poison or secret recipes to make him love me or do my bidding. Besides, it's not like you lot have not tried to beat him up in the past – all of you."

She shook her head.

"I mean, what do you want from him? A compliant husband? Is that really something you think Ranma will ever be? I don't know about you guys but what I'm looking for in a relationship isn't mindless obedience – I want someone with their own mind and unafraid to tell me if they think I'm wrong. I am not looking for a husband – I'm eighteen. I don't understand why you are all so primed to find the man you want to spend the rest of your lives with right here, right now. That's why Ranma and I keep fighting our engagement – we want more."

Tilting her head slightly, Akane looked at the other girls.

"I don't what you're looking for, but I know what I want. When I get married I want it to be my decision. And I want it to be fully consensual – what's the point of marrying someone who is only doing it out of a misplaced sense of obligation? I want love – I want someone who is as crazy about me as Dr. Tofu is about Kasumi. I want passion, I want romance. Do you all really want to settle for anything less than that? Do you really want to be the one who loves her husband with abandon and has to come home wondering if he even vaguely likes you? Or if he has cheated on you because he finally found someone he loves? Is that what you see in your future?"

Akane shook her head, a dark blush on her cheeks. That had been a bit more than she'd intended to reveal of herself but she hadn't been able to stop herself. She loved Ranma but the engagement had always been a sore point for both of them. Too often she had contemplated it, too often she had wanted someone like Dr. Tofu – though admittedly someone repeatedly risking his own life for her was much better, she admitted to herself with a secret smile.

"Shampoo, I may not particularly like you but that is in part due to the fact that you have an amazing figure and are a maybe slightly more skilled martial artist – never mind the kiss of death or the memory shampoo you used on me. The point is, even I think you have incredible ability and I don't understand why you want to spend your life chasing one man. You're beautiful – Mousse is practically begging you for a date and I know a lot of the boys in school are interested in you. Why are you so determined that Ranma is the one?"

Turning to the Okonomiyaki chef, she looked at her, feeling slightly chagrined. She did like Ukyo – she honestly did, but she still hated how Ranma claimed her as his friend; one he'd known since he was a child.

"Ukyo – you are cute and very pretty. Konatsu is head over heels in love with you. A lot of the boys at school have asked you out for dates – you're a brilliant chef and you own your own restaurant. How many girls can say that at the age of eighteen? I'm not telling you to give up on Ranma – I know you have emotional ties to him but you've spent over half your life chasing him, intent on killing him and then suddenly your emotions do a 180 because he told you that you looked cute. Think about it – he was the first boy to ever acknowledge you're a woman and a good looking one at that, but do you really want to spend the rest of your life waiting for that one boy?"

Looking at the Kuno girl, Akane hesitated. She wasn't really sure what to think of this girl.

"Kodachi… you always struck me as someone who has elaborate romantic fantasies of you and Ranma riding off into the sunset together. But you do know that every fairytale has the knight chasing after the princess, not the other way around. Do you really want to give up on your dreams? For him?"

Glancing at all three girls, the youngest Tendo rolled her shoulder hoping to ease the stress that had tightened her muscles.

"You all seem to have this fairytale picture of Ranma but you overlook all his other characteristics. He's got no idea of romance, doesn't know the first thing about emotions and he's beyond clueless when it comes to girls. All he thinks about are martial arts and food. When it comes to learning a new technique he doesn't think about anything else – he'll be gone for days at a time. He has no has no idea how to compliment someone. His ego is disproportionately massive and yet he is incongruously shy around women. He has a really bad foot-in-mouth disease and never thinks before opening his mouth. He is incredibly jealous and craves attention yet doesn't know how to handle any physical demonstration of affection. To him everything can be solved with martial arts and he always accepts any challenge no matter how ridiculous or how hard it would be for him to compete – like the time he decided to accept a skating challenge despite being unable to even stand on ice skates. Ranma has got a lot of good qualities, too, don't get me wrong, but he's got so many bad ones as well. He's human – and that's something you need to remember."

Not that any of that mattered to her – she loved Ranma, flaws and good qualities alike though sometimes it was hard to tell the two apart. She had her own flaws, her own issues that she were sure drove Ranma up the wall some days, but that was the whole point. There weren't people out there who only had positive character traits – and if you thought so you were not facing reality.

"No matter – Airen strong warrior. Amazons need strong men. Shampoo love Airen, he change for her. Besides, Airen know lots about woman pleasure – he cursed."

Akane felt her lips twitching and chanced a glance at the innocently purring Ranma. That promptly caused her to burst into raucous laughter – the mere idea that Ranma was comfortable enough with his female body to explore it – or had enough privacy was laughable. She didn't doubt that he'd looked at it but the sort of 'exploration' that Shampoo was suggesting…

Oh god, she had to ask Ranma next time he was back in his right mind – actually, she should invite him the moment he was back to himself out for some ice cream. She could just imagine his face when she asked him. Even the idea that Ranma would ever masturbate – or, dear god, try and use a Vibrator. Him, a guy, being comfortable putting something – anything – into his female body was absurd. Breaking down into helpless giggling she clutched her stomach, hiding her face on Ranma's back as she tried desperately to stop laughing.

Feeling somewhat calmer with tears still pouring down her face at the image of the speechless, red-faced Ranma she looked back up at Shampoo, continuing to chuckle lightly.

"So you're quite comfortable with his cursed form, hm?" Barely suppressing another laugh, Akane looked at her rivals, eyes glittering.

"What if he never finds a cure for it? What if he'll always remain cursed? Would you be comfortable with that? Comfortable with what other people think when you hold hands with her? Or kiss her? Would you still treat her as Ranma or would you rather pretend she was just a friend in public until you can find hot water? Does it make you squirm, the thought that Ranma may always turn into a female when in touch with cold water? What if in ten years time you're married and together and he suddenly turns into a she in the middle of making out?"

Actually it was kind of fun. Her rivals had obviously never given that much thought to it while Akane had to interact with Ranma and his curse so frequently because they were living in the same house together. Due to that she was far more intimate with all the consequences and had spent far more time thinking about herself and her own sensibilities and feelings regarding Ranma and his curse.

Her rivals were all pale and fidgeting slightly under each other's scrutiny, none willing to admit how they felt about everything she'd said. Finally Kodachi stood up, looking confused as to why all the others were quiet and accepting of Akane's words.

"…His … curse? What is this you are talking about? Have you lost your mind, little girl? There is no such thing as magic. Ranma is male – very male, I assure you. There is nothing feminine about him. But I see now that there is no reasoning with you. I shall return when my darling Ranma has returned to his senses!"

With an insane laugh, the gymnast left the dojo. The only sign of her own uncertainty and indecision was the lack of black rose petals that she normally left in her wake.

Shampoo stood up as well.

"Shampoo still need heal from yesterday. Will be back when Airen is not Neko anymore."

Nodding curtly, the Amazon left the dojo, favoring her right side slightly. Ukyo only hesitated a moment longer before saying her goodbyes as well.

"Well, I'd say it's been fun, but I'm not sure that would be entirely accurate. Despite your persuasive words I'm not giving up on Ranma that easily. Like you said, Akane, I've spent over half my life chasing him, I'm highly successful and I'll just apologise to him later if I really have abused his trust like you say I have. Ranma will forgive me. Anyway, I'll see you when you're both back at school."

Akane moaned slightly as she watched the last of her rivals disappear.

"See? Talking just doesn't work, Ranma. You might be onto something when you keep saying that fighting is the only way to get through to these people. 'sides, I don't know why they want you as Neko around them – you follow me everywhere, I've lost all my privacy and have had to get over any issues I've had with my modesty because you won't bloody well leave me alone to have a moment's peace."

A questioning meow from her lap made her roll her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Not your fault. Newsflash, it never is. It's not your fault you've got too many fiancées and it's not your fault you act like a cat… but it is frustrating like you wouldn't believe. Now come, let's enjoy the momentary peace we've just achieved. A week of respite, you can't say you'll ever have that again!"

Akane left the dojo, her Neko fiancé closely on her heels. She knew her family would likely twist her words into some sort of weird confession of love for her fiancé, but at the moment she simply couldn't be bothered to care about that. Maybe now her rivals would at least think about what it was they were doing to Ranma, though a part of her doubted it. They had all gone too far already to simply throw in the towel at this late stage in the game.

She couldn't help a tiny grin when she noticed Ranma was strutting behind her – obviously whether human or cat the knowledge that other females were fighting over him still made him an incredibly arrogant jerk; though, admittedly, a very cute arrogant jerk.

It had been easier to remain calm than she'd thought – and as soon as she'd said anything Ranma's entire attention had been on her. It was very flattering, now that the panic was over. He'd ignored the catnip, the food and the interesting toy. She'd not wanted to bring anything with her and yet Ranma had chosen her above the others. Now, if only his human mind was as decisive as his cat one.

With a sigh, Akane switched on the television, mind wandering. Ranma. He seemed to be all she was thinking about lately anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yawning, Akane stretched and made her way to the porch in front of the garden.

Watching Ranma bounce around trying to catch fireflies was amusing to watch and she found herself chuckling at his antics as he backflipped easily when he'd realized his jump had taken him too high and far past his original goal. A sudden oink drew her attention away from Ranma and with a smile she recognized P-Chan, her favourite little pig.

"P-Chan! Where have you been! I haven't seen you in ages."

Snuggling the pig to her bosom, her attention was suddenly drawn to the hissing Ranma in front of her. Frowning severely at the Neko-Ranma, Akane's attention lapsed momentarily as she intended to reprimand him. Ranma always seemed to have something against her pet pig though he refused to clarify what exactly his problem was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neko-Ranma had no such problems.

He'd swiped the pig out from underneath Akane's arms and was now carrying it between his teeth, ignoring the struggles and noises from the pig. He could feel his mate's nervousness as she cautiously approached him, scared that he would hurt the pig.

"H-Hey Ranma, sweetie… c'mmon let poor P-Chan go. He's just a little piggy. I like him, please…?"

His mate was talking again – he only understood P-Chan and his own name. Well, no matter. His mate was very clever but for some reason she never understood pig-boy's curse. But he'd show her and then she'd love him even more for saving her. Human-Ranma was silly and Neko-Ranma wasn't really sure why he'd not told their mate or left her alone with another male.

Well, that was why cats were cleverer than humans.

His mate was following him, too nervous to make quick moves for his mouth and the pig he held securely with his teeth. Good.

Scratching at the door to the bath he watched as his mate's eyes darted back to him, to the pig, uncertain. But he could smell her anxiousness, knew she was starting to realize what he was intending to show her.

"No…"

Patiently waiting he watched as his mate finally came to a decision, lips twisted into a scowl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You had better not be right about this."

Her eyes lit on the pig and her scowl darkened as it stopped thrashing about the moment she finished talking, proving it seemed to understand her words. Opening the door wide she let Ranma in and watched as he walked over to the hot bath, the pig renewing its struggle to escape.

Neko-Ranma looked at his mate for another moment before forcing the pig into the warm water.

Ryoga shot up out of the water.

"RANMA, this is all your fault! Prepare to die!"

Akane paled – Ryoga? Her friend Ryoga? Rage unlike any she'd ever felt before filled her. Grabbing the nearest large object she approached the now blushing boy, covering himself.

"Ryoga – Prepare to die!"

Ignoring his nudity she charged at him – he'd slept in her bed the pervert!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neko-Ranma watched in satisfaction as his mate pounded on his once rival. He knew his mate was strong and it was enjoyable to watch her so angry and full of strength. Definitely the best mate out there – even pig-boy recognised that. But his mate would never choose someone who behaved as pig-boy had. She was much too clever to choose someone like him when she had Neko-Ranma.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moments later Ryoga flew into the sky. Huffing, Akane watched as he slowly disappeared into the horizon. Turning back to her fiancé, she smiled widely at him.

"You're a very clever kitty, aren't you, Ranma…"

Her smile disappeared as she rolled her eyes at her own words.

"God, listen to me. Of course you're clever. You're human! Anyway, I know you can't hear this, but thank you. For letting me know about Ryoga, for choosing me, for protecting me always. Thank you."

Neko-Ranma purred happily, rubbing his head against her and Akane giggled slightly as she moved to her bedroom.

"So, I had a boy looking like a pig sleeping in my bed and now he's been replaced by a cat looking like a boy."

Still laughing, Akane threw herself onto the bed before patting the space beside her.

"Come on, you're not usually so hesitant."

Neko-Ranma jumped up, purring as he rubbed against her.

"There you go, such a clever boy. I bet you smelled that he wasn't human and protected me… again. How come you always end up saving me, one way or another, Ranma? You let me fight Ryoga but I wouldn't have known, wouldn't even have guessed had it not been for you."

Looking into the clear blue eyes of her fiancé, Akane smiled softly.

"Sometimes you're less of a baka, you know… and kind of the best fiancé I could ever ask for."

Kissing his forehead, she found herself stroking Ranma's back in time with his purrs.

"Sometimes… I kind of love you, Ranma."

Akane glanced down and smiled when she only saw blue cat eyes look back at her, not understanding the meaning of her words. Her smile widened. It was a relief – being able to say it, to him and not having him run off, make wild excuses or have the infamous Saotome open-mouth-insert-foot disease.

Blissful, Akane relaxed back and imagined what she'd do to Ryoga if he ever turned up in front of her again.

Life was good – even if Ranma sometimes thought that he was a cat. It was just another quirk and for once she could enjoy the open affection between the both of them.

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**_Hey guys, what do you think of this chapter? _**I do hope I led at least some people astray with my warning at the top about masturbation and vibrators – it was just too much fun to resist *lol*

**_Is there anything specific you'd like to see in this story? We still have five more days… the suggestions I've received so far were Kuno and training trip – anything else you'd be interested in?_**

Oh and my apologies to everyone who thought that Akane's rant at the girls was too long and a bit too revealing – just for the record, my beta agrees with you and recommended for me to cut part of it out due to its otherwise OOC nature… but I couldn't bear to do that. I liked it too much – so my apologies for the OOC-Akane and the length of her rant. I simply couldn't bring myself to cut anything out – not even the girl-Ranma bit. I thought it was too hilarious and had too much fun writing it. Sorry guys!


	4. Day Three - Uncomfortable Nudity

As always, big, huge thanks to my beta reader, **pursemonger**. Read her fanfics, they're brilliant!

On another note, I'm addressing the reviews at the bottom of the chapter! Thank you everyone who left one - this chapter is dedicated to you guys!

Sorry for the long wait. I broke my foot (fractured, whatever) and they had to put a metal plate and screws inside and kept postponing my surgery for 5 days and I even missed out on my birthday and spent that inside the hospital! Rubbish! The week before that I spent being immobile thinking it was just a sprain... well, when it swelled to balloon-size proportions we finally thought maybe we should ask a doctor.

Anyway, here's a new chapter, apologies for the delay. I won't be able to write quite as much as before (supposed to rest my foot and all that malarkey). So apologies in advance! I'll do my best to have another chapter up in the next two weeks.

**Special thanks and dedication to BobV and UrmixMoonstone** - I have taken you up on your suggestion in this chapter!

**Warning: **Nudity and themes of a sexual nature

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Ever since Ranma had moved into the Tendo household two years ago, Akane had gotten used to waking up under abnormal circumstances. If it wasn't Ranma himself chasing P-Chan from her bedroom, it was Happosai trying to steal her underwear, Crazy Gymnasts attempting to bash her head in, tremors throughout the house from innocuous looking guests - such as Rouge - turning into their cursed forms and wreaking havoc or just another long lost rival or fiancé(e) turning up to challenge someone. Yes, she could safely say that since Ranma had moved in, life was far from boring.

Being martial artists the life of the Tendos had never been something she would've classified as 'normal' with ghost hunts, humongous creatures like those in Ryugenzawa and challenges but ever since the Saotomes made themselves an intricate part of the Tendo life, it had gone far beyond even that and become truly extraordinary.

So Akane was somewhat surprised when she woke up to the nice, quiet and almost peaceful sunlight coming in through her window. No tremors throughout the house, no shouting, no screaming Pandas or shrieking redheaded girls - though Ranma would obviously deny ever doing something as 'unmanly' as shrieking.

Something was wrong, was her first conclusion.

But when suspicious chocolate coloured eyes finally opened fully, Akane realised that everything was actually right in the world. The pig-tailed martial artist that had first introduced her to the meaning of the word 'chaos' was happily sleeping next to her. With a rush, memories of the last few days came back; Ranma was stuck in Neko ken. The blue-haired girl couldn't help but wonder if maybe this was a sufficient amount of chaos for the rest of Nerima to have decided to finally grant them a break.

Almost automatically, she pressed her lips gently against Ranma's forehead, watching as blue eyes slowly blinked at her while her fiancé slowly drifted back into the waking world.

"Good morning, sweetie. You're a very well behaved kitty." She grinned mischievously. Even if Ranma didn't understand her words it was kind of fun to tease him.

Neko Ranma merely purred and butted against her hand in an attempt to make her give him more affection. Akane laughed softly but complied. Moments later he rolled onto his back and she only rolled her eyes with a slight grin before her hands searched out the firm stomach muscles on him to continue touching him as he craved. She shook her head mildly at the loud purring noises he was making at the pleasure fromtheir contact.

"You really are starved for affection, aren't you?" Her smile disappeared as a sadder mood took hold of her.

"I guess I shouldn't be that surprised knowing your family. Your dad fights you instead of hugging you and your mum unsheathes her katana at the slightest mention of anything she deems 'unmanly'. I can only suspect that asking her for a hug would be the height of unmanliness. So really - who could you go to?"

She sighed, looking at her happy fiancé. Ranma was currently rubbing his head against the palm of her other hand in an attempt to cheer her up. Instead, Akane found her heart only sinking further.

"You only ever get to look for affection in Nekoken, don't you? Otherwise… Well, your dad's only show of affection ever has been the cradle of hell. Shampoo rubs herself all over you and Ukyo gives you hugs and touches as well but neither seems to ever actually take into account what _you_ want."

Akane smiled wryly, her right hand gently massaging Ranma's head while her other hand was still on his stomach, gently caressing the firm muscle and skin beneath his shirt.

"And us? Well… We've hugged a number of times when you rescued me. And you've held me in your arms when we go roof hopping. And after Ryugenzawa you even initiated us holding hands - but… You're painfully shy around girls and don't want to be clobbered to death by me or be accused of being a pervert."

The blue haired girl sighed. Admittedly, she had given him good reasons to think she'd react like that. Even when it was due to another of Shampoo's concoctions that forced Ranma to hug anyone who sneezed Akane still had beaten him up for it. She loved his hugs, she really did. It wasn't his actions that bothered her; rather it was the suddenness of them. All she wanted was for him to ask first or allow her to choose - like he'd done in Ryugenzawa.

"I.. wouldn't mind," Akane looked into the cerulean eyes of her fiancé, wondering if she'd ever be able to tell him when he could understand her words. "I wouldn't mind, y'know. And I wouldn't reject you…"

The youngest Tendo tilted her head to look at her fiancé, continuing her gentle ministrations while looking at the deep blue eyes staring back into her own and missing the human intelligence she'd usually find within them. It was like two very different aspects of Ranma, this was the emotional side he kept repressed for his entire life and the one that acted on what he wanted and felt rather than thought. As much as Ranma was capable of being thoughtless and blurting out words, he never said anything about emotions.

So to suddenly have this warm version craving her touch and affection was nice but she missed the man inside who'd appreciate her thoughts and the implications behind the physical contact. The man who knew how much it had cost them, what they had been through and the many unsaid words that remained between them. Two so very different facets of the same man and Akane couldn't help but feel that it was a shame she couldn't experience this intimacy with Ranma, fully human and comprehending all her words, feelings and actions.

"Remember that weird date with Ryoga? He doesn't realise his strength, his hugs could crush me - martial artist or not. And yet there you were and you're just as strong as him but… when you hug me it's not the feeling of impending death…" Huffing a laugh at the thought of the obvious difference between the two rivals she shook her head gently before becoming solemn once more, brown eyes losing their sparkle as she looked at her fiancé, purring and oblivious.

"You have _killed _for me, Ranma. And I know how much that must've cost you even if we don't talk about it. I know that over all these years, no matter who challenged you, how much or with what they threatened you - you have always, _always_ restrained yourself. You have never killed. But you did that time - _for me_. Because my life was at stake and you had to make a call you should never have been forced to make. And yet, unlike Ryoga, when you hug me you're tender and warm, soft and gentle, loving and protective. A contradiction to being a martial artist but I've never felt safer than when you wrap your arms around me. I_ know_ you'd never hurt me. I _know _you'd never let me fall. With you, I'm always safe. You'd do anything to protect me."

Brown eyes, both sad and happy with that knowledge, met blue ones and her lips met his forehead again, wrapping her arms around his back and burrowing herself against his neck for a moment. But it simply wasn't the same - it was Ranma's body but the feelings were so different.

"I love you. I know you can't hear me, I know you don't know what I'm saying, but I love you. And someday I'll tell you when you understand what I'm saying. Someday I want you to be able to hug me, knowing I'd never reject you. Someday I want you to… kiss me."

Akane blushed furiously. Saying she loved him was one thing; emotions were something the girl was quite comfortable with but to admit a physical need and attraction to her fiancé was another ballpark altogether especially since she spent her days vehemently and loudly denying it. She didn't mind showing him physically that she approved of hand holding and hugging or his arm around her shoulders in a rare show of possessiveness but it was another thing altogether to_ say _that out loud.

"I mean we kissed, sort of, when you were in Neko ken the first time but I doubt you knew what you were doing. I think you were mostly nuzzling not kissing. I wonder if a real kiss would send shivers down my spine, make my head spin and I wonder if you'd like it. What if I'm not good at it? I mean… is there some sort of technique you should learn beforehand?"

Shaking her head at her own foolishness the youngest Tendo snorted slightly. Ranma was simply lying there, eyes closed, purring mindlessly at the pleasure of having both his head and his stomach caressed by his mate and completely oblivious to Akane's words and their meaning.

"I haven't got anyone else to talk to about this. My family would have us married off immediately. Your mum would kill you if she knew we hadn't kissed yet, deeming it unmanly. My friends… well, it's embarrassing to admit this you have to understand. To tell them that you haven't kissed me… it implies heavily that you're not interested. I know you said I'm sexy but for the two years before that you've called me uncute, built like a brick, unsexy, tomboy-ish and emphasized that no boy or man could possibly have an interest in me. To confess to my friends that yes, we're engaged, yes, we've been alone in the house and even seen one another in various states of undress and yet you've never made a move to come onto me - it would be humiliating. You've had Shampoo kiss you but won't kiss me. It doesn't take a genius to interpret that."

With a soft sigh she pressed her lips against his forehead again, watching as Neko Ranma merely blinked at her in confusion. Shaking her head mutely she forced herself to her feet and to move away from the warm bed.

"Come now, honey, you reek. I'll see if we can't convince our fathers to give you a bath."

Akane smirked as Ranma immediately shook himself awake and followed her when she stood up. It was rather funny just how insistent he was to not let her out of his sight. And cute and adorable. It was fun being able to call her fiancé by pet names but she would just have to be careful next week not to accidentally slip up with Ranma; now _that _would be truly embarrassing.

Already used by now to the blue eyes intently fixed on her every move, as they had been at all times over the last 72 hours, the blue haired girl casually undressed herself and slipped into comfortable shorts and a shirt; suitable for exercising but also comfortable enough should she simply decide to read and lounge in the garden all day. Akane continued her mindless chatter with Ranma to cover up any awkward silences between them.

"Ryoga had better hope he doesn't turn up anywhere near me or I will give him the beating of a lifetime. I mean, can you imagine, Ranma? Using your curse in such a fashion against women? I mean you would've had plenty of opportunity yourself; one might even say your curse almost lends itself to exactly that. Yet you've never abused it; even on the odd occasion where you have somehow been forced into the changing rooms or the hot baths you have never taken advantage of their vulnerable position - unlike Ryoga. I still can't believe he managed to slip in and out of our house for two years without anyone noticing he was human and not a pig. I mean,-"

Akane cut herself off abruptly, dressed by now and one hand on the door handle but the sudden memory flashes had halted all her movement. Bacon breath, P-Chan, Charlotte, Ryoga, pigboy - how had she not realised. Ranma_had_ known. It wasn't the cat side of him smelling now that the pig was actually human; he'd known all along. That was why he'd come into her room in the middle of the night with hot water kettles, why he had run into her bedroom more times than she could count, why he had tried to stop her from kissing P-Chan and pressing the pig into her breasts… He'd known that it was really a cursed boy not a pet. Her hands clenched even as her eyes widened with the realization. She whirled around, glaring.

"Ranma…"

She knew her tone of voice was threatening as she grabbed the first item within sight. Her fiancé, still on all fours, cringed away, head ducked in mute apology, though it was clear that he had no idea why her mood had suddenly changed.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Later she'd be unable to recall what exactly she'd thrown at her fiancé or how many items. Neko Ranma was seemingly even faster than the human one as he evaded every single strike with ease. Anger spent, Akane slowly came back to herself. All she remembered was panting, her desk lamp in her hand and an uninjured Neko Ranma hopping easily across the many broken items on her floor.

Lips quivering, Akane sank to the ground. She wasn't sure why Ranma hadn't told her, why he'd protected Ryoga but it was pretty damn clear just how bothered her fiancé had been by the entire situation. And now that he was in cat mode he'd obviously not been held back by whatever it was that stopped his human self from telling her. He'd shown her in the easiest possible way and as soon as he'd been able to.

Tired and exhausted, Akane pressed the heels of her palm against her eyes, stemming the tears that threatened to escape and subduing the sobs in her throat. She was not going to cry over this… She wasn't! It just… It stung - she'd talked to him about her mom, her thoughts, her feelings, memories and yet he'd not had the common decency to tell her about the naked boy she pressed into her breasts that had watched her undress and slept in bed with her. It felt as if he'd betrayed her even more than Ryoga ever could for the simple reason that her feelings for the lost boy were nowhere near as intense nor did she rely on him or trust him to anywhere near the same extent as Ranma.

A pitiful meow made her sniff slightly, eyes red but dry as she looked up at the questioning blue eyes of her fiancé.

"You _baka_…"

With a lunge she wrapped her arms around Neko Ranma's neck and curled into him, still refusing to cry. She just needed to feel safe and protected again; the one thing that remained the same with both Neko and Human Ranma. No matter what or who he was, he'd always protect her.

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"Akane-chan?"

A tentative knock woke the youngest Tendo up. Blinking slightly she realised what had happened; at some point, curled up against her fiancé, she must have drifted off into sleep. Grimacing slightly she pushed herself upright, hearing the disconcerting noises her bones made as they shifted back into place.

"Onee-chan?" she hesitantly asked.

"Akane, would you both like some lunch?"

The blue haired girl nearly giggled. Trust Kasumi not to mention her screams and shouts and the sounds of destruction she must've heard earlier from this room.

"Yes, thank you. That would be wonderful. Ranma and I will be right down."

Her older sister made an affirming noise and then she heard her soft footsteps fade off down the steps.

Blue eyes blinked at her curiously and Akane smiled tentatively.

"Hey… It's okay. See? I'm not mad anymore… well, not with you anyway. When you're back to being, y'know, _you_, you'd better have a pretty damn good explanation for this entire thing though. Ryoga had better not come near me any time soon though."

Patting her fiancé's black hair she gently stood up and checked herself over in the mirror before cautiously moving over the mess in her bedroom to the door. Lunch first, she decided, clean up later, though she grimaced slightly at the broken shards of the shattered picture frame.

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Tearing her eyes from the spectacle that was Neko Ranma eating, Akane tried to focus on her own food and not be put off by the boys face in the food bowl. This was even worse than normal and she even contemplated feeding him just so he wouldn't ruin her appetite.

Shaking off the thoughts she deliberately turned to look over at the other side of the room where her father and Genma were eating.

"Ranma needs a bath and a change of clothes. Could you please give him a wash?"

The spectacled older man snorted at her question.

"I don't have a death wish. You go wash him. You're his fiancée anyway."

It took Akane a moment before she could close her mouth at that obstinate reply. Glaring she turned to her father for support but as usual he simply remained quiet, hiding behind yet another newspaper to escape her accusing stare. Turning back to Genma, she frowned heavily.

"If you think for even a moment that I'll wash a naked Ranma you're sorely mistaken. You're his father. You're a martial artist - man up and help your son get cleaned; he's starting to really stink."

Eyebrows raised at her, Genma made a vague movement in her direction and before he'd even gotten around to standing up, Neko Ranma had hissed threateningly, hand raised as a silent warning not even bothering looking up. Akane winced slightly. Okay, so maybe this would be harder than she'd thought. His own father was obviously not be allowed anywhere near him and Ranma treated his own mother with similar aggression when she came too close, not trusting her.

So far the only people he seemed to accept were herself and Kasumi. Unfortunately, logic dictated that if she didn't want to spend the next four days around a really strongly smelling Ranma it would have to be either her or her older sister giving her fiancé a wash. And she really didn't want her sister seeing Ranma naked. Cringing slightly, she looked up. But maybe she'd have another suggestion? Short of hosing him down with the garden hose - which still wouldn't be with soap - Akane had to admit she might be forced into yet another extremely awkward situation soon.

"Ka-Kasumi…?"

Her older sister gave her an apologetic smile.

"I am sorry, Akane. But you can always have him as a female to make it less awkward. I will search out some clothes for you after lunch. And I'm sure neither father nor Mr. Saotome would dare to tease you or Ranma about this, will they?"

Kasumi asked as gentle as ever but there seemed to be a hidden firmness behind the warm smile she gave the two men that had them rapidly nodding and acquiescing.

Lips quirking into a slight smile at the image of an imposing Kasumi, Akane shook her head, blushing. Ranma really did have a talent for getting them into untenable situations.

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She knew she was blushing furiously but couldn't help herself. Akane had taken a long time to come to terms with the fact that to her it didn't matter whether Ranma was male or female. A few casual glances and brushes in the changing rooms had confirmed, to both her happiness and embarrassment, that this was simply yet another Ranma-only thing. She held no attraction to girls otherwise but could admit that some of the other boys and men were handsome and desirable (before they started leering or opening their mouth, that is). Other women however had never held a similar appeal to her.

And yet, after two long years she'd finally been forced to admit that where Ranma was concerned, her sexual preferences never seemed to matter. Boy or girl, she wanted him. His breasts were suddenly as attractive as a flat chest and defined pectorals. How had this happened? She knew he was still undoubtedly male in his mind, knew she wanted their wedding night to be with him as a male but she also knew that she had no disgust, abhorrence or anything similar to imagining experimenting with his female form. In fact, it called forth the same arousal in her as his male form did.

But there was no way in hell, not even under torture, that she would ever admit that to anyone, especially her older sister. So as per Kasumi's suggestion she'd mutely used cold water to transform Neko Ranma into his cursed form before disappearing into the bathroom with him.

Akane undressed herself and wrapped a towel around her body, tightening it before turning back to the agitated redhead. It was obvious that Ranma was keen to seek out the hot water behind the next door and turn back into his male form. And somehow she'd have to undress him and then stop him from doing exactly that.

Sighing, rubbing her eyes in exasperation at yet another awkward situation the two had found themselves in, she knelt down in front of her fiancé and started to undress him. To her amusement Ranma responded by meowing plaintively, looking upset at her refusal to allow him to return to his male form. There did seem to be some basic understanding in him what she was doing when she undressed him which was both discomforting and entertaining at the same time.

"Quiet now, sweetie. I'll try to get this over and done with as quickly as possible, trust me."

With quick efficient movements she took off Ranma's clothes. Since he was still on all fours it made it rather awkward and she dreaded the challenge of putting clothes back on him later on. Not allowing herself to linger on his curvaceous body as she slowly took his clothes off until he was left in only his boxers. Biting her lips the blue haired girl contemplated her next move momentarily before she shook her head. That's as far as she'd go. There simply was no way that she'd wash or otherwise touch Ranma... _down there_ without his express permission and understanding of what they were doing. Blushing furiously she stood back up.

Opening the door to the main bathroom her hands forced Ranma to remain at her side, despite his continued attempts to escape the grip she had on his pigtail.

"Behave yourself or I'll let you remain smelly. See how much you like seven days of accumulated grime and stench on you. And then there'd be no way I'ld let you sleep in my bed."

Oblivious to the meaning of her words, Ranma continued his struggles until Akane sat down on one of the small bath stools and started caressing her fiancé. Her hands continued scratching his head until Neko Ranma collapsed into a purring puddle of pleasure at her feet, eyes half closed.

Grinning to herself she gently shook her head in amusement at her for once so easily handled fiancé and grabbed the soap. It took another moment of hesitation before she slowly lifted Ranma's left arm and started gently rubbing the soap over the soft skin.

Blushing furiously as her hands kept making contact with the naked body in front of her accidentally, Akane tried desperately to stop her mind from wondering whether they might do something like this together when they were married.

It was difficult, forcing her eyes to remain only on the slender arm she was holding onto. Her fiancé was obviously enjoying the touches, mewling and purring as Akane's hand with the sponge lathered her body up. But for some reason this felt different to the previous days where her hands had touched his bare stomach when Ranma presented it to her, asking for more affection. Now, female and very clearly still in the hold of Neko ken it shouldn't have made such a difference that he was at her feet in only boxershorts and nothing else. Ranma had never been very modest about his female body and she'd seen him like this more than once but for some reason this seemed a lot more naughty, a lot more like a guilty pleasure rather than the previous innocent touches.

Unwillingly, her eyes wandered to the pert breasts of her fiancé and once again Akane had to hide a grimace at the envy she felt. It simply wasn't fair that his breasts were larger than hers, that they grew more than her own breasts even though it was only a curse he was under and she was a woman naturally. She supposed that under the circumstances it really was no surprise he'd never thought her sexy…

That thought paused Akane. But he did. He'd admitted as much and Ranma may do a lot of things but he wouldn't lie. He'd been incredibly embarrassed by it which was yet another sign that he'd said something he actually thought. But where did that leave her?

Biting her lip she found her hands reaching for his other arm almost absent mindedly, eyes intently studying his cursed form and mentally comparing it to her own and Shampoo's as well as Ukyo's. Akane liked her own body well enough but she was not oblivious to its flaws. Due to her extensive training she had a lot of muscle - so while she lacked the fat that other girls frequently complained about she also needed to eat more than was technically decorous for a woman and had clearly visible calf and thigh muscles. More than once she'd overheard girls talking about how they didn't want to walk too much as they might end up developing muscles in their thighs and thus be 'fat'.

But Ukyo and Shampoo trained even more vigorously than her in some ways and yet they always seemed to have a perfect figure. Grumbling to herself about the unfairness of it all she once again examined her compliant fiancé in front of her.

Ranma did have an incredibly curvaceous female body with arguably all the attributes a man could possibly be interested in; big breasts, slim waist, perfect hips, long legs. Yet he'd called her sexy and he had definitely seen his fair share of naked women's bodies. That thought caused her to cringe slightly despite the truth behind it.

"This is _sooo _awkward. I'm glad you won't remember this." Akane shuddered at her muttered words; what if Ranma could read her mind or knew what she was thinking about him especially when he was undressed. Cringing, she dismissed the thoughts and came to the realization that now, having finished with both arms and his stomach she'd have to take the next step.

The youngest Tendo vaguely thought her face might explode from the sheer heat alone as she used the sponge to wash Ranma's breasts; her other hand was on his shoulder to hold him upright since his natural positioning was on all fours and he'd refused to keep lying down. The soap suds on the round bosoms seemed strangely appealing and for the first time Akane could see what a guy would find attractive. Gulping she quickly washed the other one though she tried to ensure that despite her haste she wasn't too rough on her fiancé.

It took her a moment to tear her eyes off the sight of a soapy naked Ranma and she swiftly fixed her eyes on his, reminding herself that she'd often told boys not to stare at… her assets and now here she was, doing the exact same thing. Though admittedly she could remember that Ranma had, on previous occasions, been rather hard pressed to keep his eyes above shoulder height as well when he'd seen her naked and wet.

Focusing back on her fiancé she started lathering up his back, telling herself that this was much safer territory. Her tongue wet her lips, remembering the way Ranma looked with his shirt off and in his male form - now he was slender, curvy, soft and she could catch glances of the round heights of his bosom… but as male she could see every muscle move and stretch under his skin with no fat to speak off. It was a mouthwatering sight.

Oh god, she was a pervert! Closing her eyes, Akane tried to force her thoughts onto less distracting notions before she could find out if her blush really could spread over her entire body.

That was another curious thing; Ranma's female form never seemed to have hairy legs yet his male form did. It had always puzzled her, though now, as her hands with the sponge slowly soaped the long legs, she finally noticed that there were tiny hairs they just were barely noticeable. It wasn't until she stretched out Ranma's other leg that she noticed the ever darkening wet patch on the boxershorts.

Blinking it took a moment before Akane assimilated the information; there was no way that any water had reached there and that left only one explanation. Looking up she noticed that the normally ocean blue eyes of her fiancé had darkened with arousal and her own blush intensified, now suddenly aware of how his purring had turned into more of a quiet mewling, begging for more.

Swallowing past the lump in her throat that Akane told herself came from embarrassment rather than her own willingness to … let the situation escalate, she quickly finished with his leg and then dumped the now much cooler bucket of water over her fiancé.

It worked like a charm. Ranma blinked and hissed at the cold and though his nipples were now more pronounced than before, it had obviously taken at least some of the edge of his arousal. Feeling too relieved as the sexual tension between them lessened somewhat, she failed to stop Ranma from reversing the curse as he used the hot water behind her and turned back into a male.

Wide eyed, Akane stared for a moment at her fiancé's naked masculine form - specifically his midsection. Even the cold water had not helped as much as she would've liked and while not obvious in his female form his continued interest in her and their 'activities' was more than apparent now despite the boxershorts.

It took her longer than she would like to admit to tear her eyes away from the sight of his arousal, gulping in much needed air as she desperately tried to calm down her own heart rate. Ranma could obviously smell her desire and it definitely wasn't helping the situation.

Originally, she'd intended to have her own bath but something told her that being naked in a bath tub with Ranma watching her would not help her in the least. The sheer thought of him watching her, being interested in her in _that_ way was affecting her. The fact that normally he would be looking in the other direction due to embarrassment and in protection of her modesty only seemed to heighten the excitement when he was not doing so now; clearly staring and aroused by what he was seeing.

Violently clamping down on her thoughts she hesitantly patted the space in front of her, watching as Ranma, eyes dark and glittering, prowled over to her confidently. Heart racing she bit her lip; arrogance and confidence had always given her fiancé a very alluring effect only enhanced by his attractiveness.

However, Akane rapidly woke from her stupor when Ranma's face neared the bottom end of her towel, obviously intent on coming closer to her nether regions. She squealed slightly in surprise, clenched her thighs tightly and kept on hand on her towel so as to not unintentionally allow him to get to his goal. Her hand around the cold water bucket firmed. Within seconds, bucket upended, her fiancé had once again turned into his cursed form.

Akane found herself watching with a sense of disappointment as Ranma shrunk slightly, breasts grew and hard pectoral muscles disappeared under a layer of soft skin and the tent in his boxershorts disappeared.

As expected, he hissed angrily at her - though not threateningly - but her hands gripped his pigtail tightly, refusing to allow her fiancé to turn himself back with the hot water. Murmuring soothingly she undid the hair band holding his hair together before she started gently massaging the shampoo into his scalp. The hissing died down rapidly, replaced by ever louder purring and she felt the tense redhead relax slowly under her ministrations. The blue haired girl bit back a sigh of relief when she felt the tension die down slowly. The atmosphere was much more pleasant now that her fiancé's back was turned and he wasn't too obviously presenting her with the clear signs of just how arousing her touches were. A part of her wondered if he'd have reacted the same way if it had been Shampoo or Ukyo doing this.

Telling her wandering mind off, she watched carefully to see which touches Ranma reacted most strongly to before she used another cold water bucket to wash the soap off his hair.

It was remarkably easy to persuade Ranma to follow her back into the front room. True to her word, Kasumi had left a change of clothes for them. She blushed at the thought that her sister had been here and Akane had remained blissfully oblivious to any intrusion; though admittedly her thoughts had been as far removed from her sister or indeed any other member of her family as they could possibly be.

She was amused more than put off by Ranma hissing his displeasure at her; it was obvious that the Neko didn't understand why she wouldn't allow him to turn back into a male.

"Just a few more minutes, honey." Crouching down at his side, Akane felt no more hesitation at the close physical contact she was initiating. Her arm curled around the stomach of the other girl, lifting her slightly off the floor to facilitate taking off the undergarment.

Feeling strangely embarrassed on his behalf she kept her eyes averted from his bottom and took her hand of his stomach - which suddenly seemed far too close now that the boxershorts no longer served as a protection of sorts. Just as she let Ranma go and took the new underwear from the pile of clothes Kasumi had left for them, the bathroom door flew open and revealed Happosai.

In an instinctive reaction borne from years of experience around the small perverted old man, Akane dropped the clothes and instead grabbed hold of her towel and clasped the juncture where she'd fastened it, tightly. That left her with one hand for defense but before she ever had a chance to act on it, Neko Ranma growled threateningly, stepping in front of her protectively.

Even Happosai was taken aback at seeing her fiancé's female form completely naked and it gave Neko Ranma all the time he needed. As far as the cat in him was concerned, his mate had initiated a mating ritual with him, showing their mutual desire for each other before the small creature had shown up and interfered. No one interfered in a mating and no one had the right to make his mate feel so upset as she did now.

Eyes narrowing, Ranma didn't hesitate. Claws unsheathed, the movement too fast to be visible to human eyes, Ranma's arm flashed out in a diagonal scratching motion. The gi shredded and blood was visible even as Happosai flew back out of the room from the power alone and through the wall into the garden. Hissing threateningly in anger, Ranma glared after the old man, refusing to go after the enemy since it would mean leaving his mate without protection when she was vulnerable.

"KASUMI!"

Akane stepped in front of her fiancé, one hand calmingly placed on his shoulder blade. She could feel the strength coiled in him, the anger and the power to seriously harm anyone that would come between them; especially now.

Kasumi, bless her, came around the corner quickly. Akane leaned out of the bathroom, motioning for her older sister not to come any closer.

"Happosai tried to come in - he's out in the garden. I'm not sure how serious his injury is. Could you just check that he's okay? I saw … I saw blood."

Licking her lips, Akane desperately tried to suppress the nervous anxiousness that had filled her the moment she'd seen the force behind Ranma's attack and the red drops on the floor. Thankfully, Kasumi merely nodded and went out in the garden. The blue haired girl knew that it was paramount she calmed Ranma down now. She doubted that even her older sister would've been allowed to intrude right now.

Closing the doors, pushing away the apprehension she felt, she turned back to focus on her fiancé. He'd simply done what he always did and that was protecting her. It wasn't his fault that as a cat he had no idea of what constituted excessive force.

Smiling gently at Neko Ranma, she brushed her hand through his hair and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. When she finally felt the rest of her anxiety fade she put a small amount of space between her and her fiancé.

"Thank you." Wryly, she added with another look at his naked female body "Now let's do something about this lack of modesty of yours."

The tension in her had at least successfully killed any remnants of arousal she'd felt. Dressing Ranma was over in a matter of minutes due to the awkward maneuvering she'd had to do since he was still on all fours. Akane quickly followed and dressed herself before stepping back out. Her fiancé had calmed down once he'd realised that she wasn't sexually excited anymore. She'd let him turn himself back into a male before walking down to where Happosai presumably landed. There was a small indent, traces of blood and slowly the anxiety crept back up.

Her sister was not in the garden anymore and neither was grandfather but instead she found Kasumi back in the family room looking serious; she paused momentarily. Was that good or bad?

"Akane-chan"

The blue haired girl mechanically sat down in front of her sister, heart beating fast. Oh god, was Happosai dead? She didn't like the old man but she never wanted him dead. And how would Ranma react? God, please don't say that. He'd survived bombs, surely this wouldn't be enough to incapacitate him?

"I am very sorry but we can't keep going like this. You and Ranma have too many suitors and too many rivals and fiancées. Happosai will be fine in a few days, but it was a close call. Had it been just that bit deeper I'm not sure he would've survived." Kasumi paused to let the words sink in and Akane barely withheld a gasp.

"Now, this is not Ranma's fault. I'm not saying that but I think it's time you both got away from the craziness here for a while. Just until he's back to being himself. Another incident like this one and…"

Unwillingly Akane's hand clenched around her fiancé's. She didn't want to even imagine what would happen to Ranma if someone died; and he would no doubt be plagued by guilt once he was back to being himself.

Nodding firmly she made a decision and her eyes met Kasumi's in silent understanding over their precarious situation.

"I believe I've been begging daddy to go another training trip with me for years. It seems only fitting that I go now with Ranma instead."

The face of the oldest Tendo lit up in a warm smile.

"I think that would be perfect. Let me prepare some food for you to take along. I believe the tents are still in the storage room. Oh, and make sure you don't pack too much as Ranma won't be able to carry anything."

Bemused Akane stared after Kasumi as she hummed and made her way into the kitchen. Her older sister always seemed to be so well prepared for everything and thinking of all eventualities.

The blue haired girl only hesitated a moment longer before going back upstairs with her fiancé at her heels, looking for her backpack. Entering her bedroom she sighed momentarily at the mess. It looked like the packing would have to wait until she could safely step into her own room without cutting open her feet on the shards of glass or fall over the various objects littering the floor.

Sighing and grumbling over Ranma's general unhelpfulness in the situation she bent down and started the long task.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was past midnight before Ranma and Akane left the Tendo family home together. The timing was deliberate; she would've been hard pressed to explain why there was a boy following her on all fours, hissing and meowing like a cat.

So they had left in the middle of the night in the hope of both escaping anyone's notice - including their suitors - as well as not raising questions about Ranma's current state of mind.

She had also made her family believe she was going north while her actual intention was to go east. That way any information released, however accidental or intentional by anyone would not lead directly to them. With any luck that would be a sufficient diversion for anyone attempting to follow them, though Akane still held out hope that at least Ranma's fiancées (or wannabe fiancées) were currently not interested in challenging a Neko version of him.

Adjusting her backpack for the long journey undoubtedly ahead of them, Akane set out. Ranma was seemingly overjoyed at being out in the fresh air and finally able to stretch his legs. He kept jumping all over the place, meowing and running circles around her before he bound a couple of feet up ahead, clearly interested in getting her to increase her pace, and then returning to her side again, butting his head against her affectionately.

And for the first time since the Happosai-fiasco that night, Akane found herself laughing openly, hand resting gently on Ranma's head before she gave him a mischievous smile and started running.

"Slowpoke!"

Her fiancé yowled in pleasure before bounding after her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~##~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right... what do you think?

**caia-chan**: Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Hope this chapter was up to snuff as well. Let me know what you think!

**Richard Ryley**: Thank you for your comment. You're completely right, that's a typo.. sorry! I'm glad you didn't think Akane was too OOC. As you mentioned, Akane didn't consider all the implications at the time, simply assuming that the cat in him had found out not that the human in him had known. Though as you can see, realisation hit in this chapter but less dramatic. Once Ranma is back to being himself he might have to do a bit of grovelling, but nothing too dramatic.

**Compucles**: Thank you! Well, here's a small Ryoga-fallout but nowhere near as dramatic. Some grovelling and they'll be okay again, I reckon. As you can see, Happosai did appear in this one. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Leoness**: Yay, glad you liked it. Thank you for your comments. Hope you like this chapter as well!

**BobV: **Thank you for your review. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've taken you up on your suggestion as you can see- bath time! Ryoga's part was mentioned again, a bit at least to make Akane have the realisation about Ranma knowing as human. Let me know what you think of this one.

**Linkgold64**: Thank you for your review. Yes, the other one is indeed mine as well. I'm glad you're enjoying both.

**Jdcocoagirl: **Thank you for your review! Hope you've enjoyed this chapter just as much.

**serenityselena**: Thank you for your comments! I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter as much as the previous ones!

**Flameraven1**: Thank you for your review and all the encouragement. Akane realises, as you have read by now, before human Ranma takes back over that he knew about Ryoga's curse.

**Lady Ski: **Well, thank you for your review. We may, or may not, in the next few chapters have the Amazons turn up... maybe... I don't want to give anything away!

**Armichi: **Thank you for your review. And thanks again for your thoughts on Akane's rant.

**The Keeper of Worlds: **Thank you for your review. Ryoga will be... absent for a little while but will turn up again before this story finishes. That's as much as I'll say on that topic ;) Let me know what you think!

**CityOnTheMoon: **Thanks for your review. Afraid this chapter will be lacking in drama - that will come up later though. Hope you still enjoyed this chapter.

**UrmixMoonstone: **Thanks for your you can see I took you up on your suggestion! Hope you liked my take on it...

**rage98: **Thank you for your review. Let me know what you think of this chapter.


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